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Field  Columbian  Museum 
Publication  3. 


XjIBK-A-H-Y  OIF* 

Illinois  State 

LABORATORY  OF  NATURAL  HISTO 

URBANA.   ILLINOIS. 


Geological  Series. 


Vol.  1.  No.  1. 


HANDBOOK  AND  CATALOGUE 


OF   THE 


METEORITE  COLLECTION. 


BY 


Oliver   C.   Farrington,   Ph.   D. 


ip, ■  i. ^rSii-aw   Department  of  Geology. 

LIBRARY  OS* 


Illinois  State 

IBORATORY  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY, 

URBANA,   ILLINOIS 


s-HsasS 


Chicago,  U.  S.  A. 

August  1895. 


PUBLICATIONS 


OF    THE 


FIELD   COLUMBIAN    MUSEUM 


GEOLOGICAL  SERIES 
Volume  I. 


Chicago,   U.   S.  A. 
1895-1902 


^ 


I 


F£ 

v.  I 


•n=pj 


? 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Pages. 
Handbook  and  Catalogue  of  the  Meteorite  Collection. 

O.  C.  Farrington.    (Plates  I-I V.) 1-66 

Observations  on  Popocatepetl  and   Ixtaccihuatl,  with  a  Review  of  the 
Geographic  and  Geological  Features  of  the  Mountains. 
O.  C.  Farrington.     (Plates  VII-XVIII.) 67-120 

The  Ores  of  Colombia,  from  Mines  in  Operation  in  1892. 

H.  W.  Nichols.    (Plate  XIX.) 121-177 

The  Mylagaulidae,  an  Extinct  Family  of  Sciuromorph  Rodents. 

E.  S.  Riggs 178-187 

A  Fossil  Egg  from  South  Dakota. 

O.  C.  Farrington.     (Plates  XX-XXI.) 188-200 

Contributions  to  the  Paleontology  of  the  Upper  Cretaceous  Series. 

\V.  X.  Logan.    (Plates  XXII-XXVI.) 201-216 

New  Mineral  Occurrences. 

O.  C.  Farrington ; . . . .  217-231 

Crystal  Forms  of  Calcite  from  Joplin,  Missouri. 

O.  C.  Farrington.    (Plates  XXVII-XXXI.) 232-241 

Observations  on  Indiana  Caves. 

O.  C.  Farrington.     (Plates  XXXII-XXXIII.) 242-266 

The  Dinosaur  Beds  of  the  Grand  River  Valley  of  Colorado. 

E.  S.  Riggs.    (Plates  XXXIV-XXXIX.) 267-274 

The  Fore  Leg  and  Pectoral  Girdle    of    Morosaurus,  with  a  Note  on  the 
Genus  Camarosaurus. 
E.  S.  Riggs.    (Plates   XL-XLII.) 275-281 

Meteorite  Studies. — I. 

O.  C.  Farrington.    (Plates  XLIII-XLVI.) 282-315 

Index 316-323 


Field  Columbian  Museum 
Publication  3. 


Geological  Series 


Vol.  1.  No.  1. 


HANDBOOK  AND  CATALOGUE 


OF    THE 


METEORITE  COLLECTION. 


BY 


Oliver   C.   Farrington,   Pil   D., 

Curator,  Department  of  Geology. 


Chicago,   U.  S.  A. 
August  1895. 


.4- 


c^ 


PREFACE. 

The  care  with  which  meteorites  are  treasured  and  the  value 
they  have  assumed  in  the  hands  of  collectors  renders  it  desirable 
that  as  full  information  as  possible  should  be  available  regarding  the 
whereabouts  of  each  specimen.  To  furnish  this  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  collection  of  meteorites  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum 
has  been  the  principal  object  in  issuing  this  publication. 

It  is  also  hoped,  however,  that  a  more  thorough  study  of  the  col- 
lection will  be  facilitated  by  the  Catalogue  and  that  that  portion  of 
the  work  called  the  Handbook,  when  used  in  connection  with  the 
specimens,  will  enable  any  one  not  previously  acquainted  with  the 
subject  to  gain  some  knowledge  of  the  principal  characters  of 
meteorites. 

Many  of  the  statements  of  this  portion  of  the  work,  for  which  it 
has  not  been  practicable  to  give  specific  credit, have  been  drawn  from 
authors  whose  works  are  mentioned  at  the  end  of  the  Handbook. 

Prof.  L.  Fletcher's  work,  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Meteor- 
ites, edition  0/1890,  has  been  found  especially  helpful  and  its  plan  of 
arrangement  is  so  excellent  that  it  has  been  largely  followed  by  the 
author. 

In  the  difficult  matter  of  names  of  meteorites  and  the  dates  of 
their  fall  or  find,  the  data  given  in  Huntington's  catalogue  have,  in 
the  main,  been  accepted  as  correct. 

No  attempt  at  a  plan  of  elaborate  classification  has  been  made, 
as  none  of  the  present  systems  seem  to  have  gained  sufficient  accept- 
ance to  make  them  authoritative. 

The  divisions  proposed  by  Maskelyne  however,  of  derosiderites, 
derosiderolites  and  aerolites  have  been  found  to  form  so  convenient  a 
grouping  that  they  have  been  followed  throughout. 

Grateful  acknowledgments  are  due  Dr.  C.  F.  Millspaugh  of  this 
Museum  for  the  generous  aid  he  has  given  in  preparing  the  photo- 
graphs for  the  illustrations  of  the  work,  also  to  Prof.  H.  A.  Newton 
and  Dr.  O.  W.  Huntington  for  information  kindly  furnished. 

July  is,  180J.  Oliver  C.  Farrington. 

3 

I  1301 73 


Itolt  Utt  Libiruif]  if  html  liitiq 

llknn 


Fm  •  •  •  •  SB       taH 
HALL  35.  HALL  36. 

TPALEONTOL|OGY.  B* 

I a_| 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

Arrangement  of  the  Collection 7 

Handbook  of  the  Collection 9 

Bibliography ^2 

Catalogue  of  the  Collection 33 

Aerosiderites 35 

Aerosiderolites .' 45 

Aerolites 49 

List  of  Casts  of  Meteorites 61 

Index  to  Meteorites 62 

General  Index .  66 


, 


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PLAN  OP  HALL  62. 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  COLLECTION. 


The  collection  of  meteorites  occupies  Hall  62  of  the  West  Annex 
of  the  Museum.  The  number  and  disposition  of  the  cases  in  the 
hall  is  shown  by  the  accompanying  plan.  The  smaller  specimens 
are  arranged  in  the  chronological  order  of  their  fall  or  find,  in  Cases 
1-4  inclusive. 

They  are  grouped  for  convenience,  as  shown  in  the  Catalogue, 
into  the  three  classes  of  derosiderites,  (meteoric  irons)  derosidcrolites^ 
(meteoric  iron-stones)  and  aerolites  (meteoric  stones.)  The  aerosid- 
erites  occupy  Cases  1  and  2,  the  aerosiderolites  part  of  Case  3,  and 
the  aerolites,  the  remainder  of  Case  3  and  Case  4. 

The  place  of  fall  or  find  of  each  specimen,  usually  constituting 
the  name  of  the  meteorite,  the  date  of  fall  or  find  and  the  weight 
of  each  specimen  are  shown  by  its  label. 

Cases  5  and  6  contain  specimens  weighing  respectively  466  and 
345  pounds,  of  the  Kiowa  County,  Kansas,  fall,  together  with  smaller 
individuals  and  sections  of  others  of  the  same  fall.  In  Case  8  are 
placed  a  large  mass  and  several  hundred  smaller  fragments  of  the 
Phillips  County,  Kansas,  meteorite,  the  aggregate  weight  of  which 
is  1184^  pounds. 

On  the  pedestal  numbered  12,  in  the  center  of  the  hall,  are  sup- 
ported two  large  masses  weighing  respectively  1013  and  265  pounds, 
of  the  Canon  Diablo,  Arizona,  meteorite.     See  Plate  III,  Fig.  3. 

The  total  number  of  falls  or  finds  represented  by  these  specimens 
is  180  and  their  aggregate  weight  4,720.6  pounds,  (2, 140.4  kilograms). 

Cases  7  and  10  are  devoted  to  casts  which  show  the  form  and 
size  of  some  of  the  more  notable  meteorites,  together  with  speci- 
mens of  pseudo-meteorites,  of  the  Ovifak  iron  and  of  other  terrestrial 
minerals  which  approximate  in  composition  to  those  of  meteoric 
origin. 

Pedestals  9  and  1 1  bear  full-sized  models  of  the  Chupaderos  and 
San  Gregorio,  Mexico,  meteorites,  which  illustrate  the  size  of  these, 
the  largest  known  bodies  of  their  class.  - 


8  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

On  the  wall  is  a  large  map  of  North  America  showing  the  places 
at  which  meteorites  have  fallen  or  have  been  found  in  this  country. 

Nearly  all  of  the  specimens  which  now  make  up  the  collection 
have  been  obtained  by  purchase  from  Ward's  Natural  Science  Estab- 
lishment and  Mr.  Geo.  F.  Kunz.  A  section  of  the  Seneca  River 
meteorite  has  been  kindly  loaned  for  exhibition  by  Mr.  G.  Murray 
Guion  of  Chicago. 

It  is  believed  that  the  collection  has  already  a  size  and  value 
which  entitle  it  to  be  considered  one  of  the  important  ones  of  this 
country,  if  not  of  the  world,  and  it  is  hoped  that  by  gifts  and  exchan- 
ges its  value  may  be  so  constantly  increased  as  to  maintain  this  posi- 
tion, and  make  it  a  profitable  center  for  the  study  of  meteorites. 


HANDBOOK  OF  THE  COLLECTION. 


(In  the  following  pages  the  figures  in  full-faced  type  refer  to  those  on  the  specimen  labels  of 
the  collection.  From  these,  therefore,  reference  may  be  made  to  individual  specimens  of  the  col- 
lection, for  the  purpose  of  verifying  or  exemplifying  the  statements  of  the  text.) 

Meteorites  are  stony  or  metallic  bodies  of  extra-terrestrial  origin 
which  fall  to  the  earth  from  space. 

They  may  fall  at  any  time  of  the  day  or  of  the  year  and  on  any 
part  of  the  earth's  surface.  Their  fall  is  usually  accompanied  by 
luminous  phenomena,  such  as  the  appearance  of  a  ball  of  fire,  showers 
of  sparks  and  clouds  of  smoke  and  by  sounds  like  those  of  cannonad- 
ing, of  thunder,  or  of  bellowings  and  rattlings. 

Observation  of  such  falls  is  only  occasional,  since  the  larger 
number  of  meteorites  fall  into  the  sea  or  upon  uninhabited  regions. 
Daubree  calculates  that  the  fall  of  a  meteorite  upon  some  portion 
of  the  earth's  surface  is  a  phenomenon  of  daily  occurrence,  yet  the 
record  of  observed  falls  for  the  past  century  shows  an  average  of  only 
two  and  a  half  a  year. 

It  is  known,  however,  that  such  bodies  have  fallen  to  the  earth 
since  the  very  earliest  periods  of  human  history,  because  some  of  the 
most  ancient  records  known  to  exist,  refer  to  such  phenomena. 

Being  regarded  by  ancient  man  and  by  barbarous  tribes  as  of 
miraculous  origin,  they  were  often  carefully  preserved,  enshrined 
and  worshiped  as  gods,  and  thus  a  knowledge  of  their  existence  has 
come  down  to  us. 

Thus  a  stone  which  fell  in  Phrygia  at  a  very  early  period  was 
long  worshiped  as  Cybele,  "the  mother  of  the  gods"  and  about  204 
B.  C.  was  removed  with  great  ceremony  to  Rome.  It  was  described 
as  "a  black  stone  in  the  figure  of  a  cone,  circular  below  and  ending 
in  an  apex  above, "  so  that  it  is  very  probable  that  it  was  a  meteorite. 

The  Roman  historian  Livy  tells  of  a  shower  of  stones  which  took 
place  on  the  Alban  Mount  about  652  B.  C,  by  which  the  senate  was 
so  impressed  that  it  held  a  solemn  festival  of  nine  days  in  honor 
of  the  event. 

The  famous  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  and  Venus  of  Cyprus  were 
probably  meteoric  stones  which  were  worshiped  as  gods. 


io  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

The  Moslems  sacredly  preserve  at  Mecca  a  stone  whose  history 
goes  back  beyond  the  seventh  century,  the  descriptions  of  which 
leave  little  doubt  that  it  was  of  extra-terrestrial  origin. 

The  traveler  Pallas  found  in  1772  a  stone  at  Krasnojarsk  (159) 
in  Siberia,  which  was  regarded  by  the  Tartars  as  a  "holy  thing 
fallen  from  heaven."  As  it  has  well  marked  meteoric  characters, 
their  tradition  regarding  it  was  probably  based  upon  observation  of 
its  fall. 

A  large  mass  of  iron  was  found  in  Wichita  County  (41)  Texas,  a 
few  years  ago,  which  had  been  set  up  by  the  Indians  as  a  kind  of 
"fetich  "  or  object  of  worship  and  revered  by  them  as  a  body  foreign 
to  the  earth  and  coming  "from  the  Great  Spirit."  It  was  set  up  at  a 
point  where  several  trails  met  and  was  evidently  visited  periodically  by 
them.  This,  too,  was  found  upon  examination  to  have  the  characters 
of  a  meteoric  iron,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  its  fall  had  been  wit- 
nessed by  some  member  of  the  race  at  a  previous  period. 

Ornaments  made  of  meteoric  iron  have  also  been  found  upon  the 
altars  of  mounds  in  Ohio,  indicating  that  they  may  have  been  used  as 
objects  of  worship  by  the  Mound  Builders. 

The  Chinese  preserve  many  accounts  of  the  fall  of  stones  from 
the  sky,  the  earliest  recorded  being  about  644  B.  C. 

The  oldest  stone  still  preserved  which  is  positively  of  meteoric 
origin  is  that  of  Ensisheim  (207)  Elsass,  Germany.  This  fell  No- 
vember 16,  1492,  between  11  and  12  A.  M.,  making  a  hole  about  five 
feet  deep  in  the  ground.  The  stone  weighed  260  pounds.  King 
Maximilian  being  at  Ensisheim  at  the  time  had  it  carried  to  the  castle 
and  after  breaking  off  two  pieces,  one  for  the  Duke  Sigismund  of 
Austria  and  the  other  for  himself,  forbade  further  damage  and 
ordered  it  to  be  suspended  in  the  parish  church,  where  it  is  said  it 
may  still  be  seen  hanging  by  a  chain  from  the  vault  of  the  choir. 

Although  the  fact  of  the  fall  of  stones  from  the  sky  seemed  thus 
so  well  established,  the  haze  of  superstition  and  exaggeration  by 
which  the  accounts  of  such  occurrences  were  surrounded  was  so 
great  that  scientific  men  were  slow  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of 
such  a  phenomenon. 

Moreover  the  advance  of  knowledge  instead  of  furnishing  addi- 
tional reason  for  belief  that  bodies  could  reach  the  earth  from  the 
universe  beyond,  in  fact  made  it  seem  very  improbable.  The  courses 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  were  found  to  be  controlled  by  such  immuta- 
ble laws  that  any  irregularity  seemed  impossible.  The  accounts  of 
stones  falling  from  heaven  therefore  were  generally  regarded  by 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  ii 

scientific  men  as  the  delusion  of  a  few  badly  scared  or  very  credulous 
observers. 

As  proof  of  this  it  may  be  noted  that  as  late  as  1772,  three 
French  Academicians,  among  whom  was  the  renowned  chemist  Lav- 
oisier, having  investigated  the  stone  which  was  said  to  have  fallen  at 
Luce,  France,  in  1768,  reported  that  in  their  opinion  it  was  only  an 
ordinary  one  struck  by  lightning. 

In  the  next  few  years  however,  meteoric  falls  occurred  under 
circumstances  so  accurately  defined  that  their  authenticity  could  not 
be  denied. 

On  the  13th  of  December,  1795,  at  Wold  Cottage  (215)  in  York- 
shire, England,  a  stone  weighing  56  pounds  fell  within  ten  yards  of 
where  a  laborer  was  standing,  penetrating  12  inches  of  soil  and  6 
inches  of  chalk  rock.  It  was  found  when  examined  to  be  of  different 
character  from  any  ever  before  known  in  that  region. 

No  phenomena  of  sound  or  light  were  observed  by  the  laborer, 
but  in  the  surrounding  villages  an  explosion  was  heard  like  the  firing 
of  guns  at  sea  and  at  some  points  a  sound  of  something  unusual  pass- 
ing through  the  air  towards  Wold  Cottage. 

Still  more  unmistakable  was  the  fall  which  occurred  at  Krakhut 
(216,  217)  near  Benares,  India,  about  8  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  De- 
cember 19,  1798.  A  ball  of  fire  appeared  in  a  calm  and  cloudless  sky, 
accompanied  by  a  sound  like  that  of  thunder,  and  then  the  descent  of 
a  number  of  stones  was  observed  by  several  Europeans  and  natives. 

Finally  at  L'Aigle  (218,  220)  in  the  Department  of  Orne,  France, 
about  1  P.  M.  April  26,  1803,  occurred  a  shower  of  more  than  a  thous- 
and stones,  the  circumstances  attending  which  were  so  unmistakable 
that  even  the  skeptical  French  Academicians  were  obliged  to  give  up 
their  doubts.  An  exhaustive  summary  of  the  facts  in  regard  to  this 
fall  having  been  made  by  the  French  physicist  Biot,  his  conclusions 
led  the  whole  scientific  world  to  believe  that  from  time  to  time, 
material  bodies  having  an  extra-terrestrial  origin  do  come  to  the  earth. 

As  a  result  of  these  conclusions  such  bodies,  which  are  called 
meteorites,  are  now  as  far  as  possible  carefully  preserved  and  the  phe- 
nomena attending  their  fall  are  accurately  noted  and  recorded.  The 
fact  that  they  are  the  only  material  bodies  which  ever  reach  the  earth 
from  the  universe  beyond  it,  gives  them  a  peculiar  interest,  and  their 
study  has  taught  something  and  may  teach  yet  more  of  the  nature 
of  cosmic  matter  and  forces. 

While  the  meteorites  of  different  falls  vary  in  individual  particu- 
lars, they  all  conform  to  a  common  type  and  possess  as  a  whole 
characters  which  serve  to  distinguish  them  from  any  terrestrial  bodies. 


12  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i.  * 

It  is  therefore  possible  when  any  body  possessing  these  characters  is 
found  upon  the  earth,  to  assert  with  comparative  certainty  that  it 
was  of  meteoric  origin  though  its  fall  to  the  earth  has  not  been  ob- 
served. This  is  called  a  meteoric  "  find  "  in  distinction  from  a  meteo- 
ric "fall"  and  a  large  number  of  the  meteorites  now  in  collections 
have  been  obtained  in  this  way. 

This  is  especially  true  of  the  meteorites  made  up  chiefly  of  iron, 
since  their  metallic  character  preserves  them  from  decay  and  their 
weight  and  difference  from  ordinary  stones  make  them  noticeable  to 
the  ordinary  observer.  On  account  of  the  nickel-white  color  of  their 
interior  also,  they  are  often  taken  by  their  discoverers  for  masses  of 
silver  and  have  been  preserved  for  this  reason.  Of  more  than  one 
hundred  localities  of  these  now  represented  in  collections  only  nine 
metallic  meteorites  have  actually  been  seen  to  fall. 

The  meteoric  stones,  on  the  other  hand,  unless  their  fall  has  been 
observed,  are  far  less  likely  to  be  discovered,  since  they  differ  so  little 
from  ordinary  stones  in  appearance  that  they  are  easily  overlooked 
and  under  atmospheric  influences  quickly  disintegrate  and  decay. 
Hence  most  of  the  stony  meteorites  now  in  collections  have  been 
seen  to  fall. 

Over  530  distinct  meteoric  falls  and  finds  are  now  known,  of 
which  the  falls  number  about  270. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  meteor- 
ites which  actually  reach  the  earth  are  ever  secured,  since  numbers 
of  them  fall  into  the  sea  or  upon  uninhabited  regions.  It  will  there- 
fore be  evident  that  any  conclusions  regarding  the  distribution  of 
meteorites  which  may  be  drawn  from  maps  showing  where  they  have 
fallen  must  be  imperfect  and  faulty.  Such  observations  as  have  been 
made,  however,  indicate  that  meteorites  are  not  attracted  to  any  par- 
ticular portion  of  the  earth's  surface  and  that  the  point  at  which  they 
reach  the  earth  is  purely  a  matter  of  accident. 

The  times  both  of  the  year  and  of  the  day,  at  which  meteorites 
fall,  seem  to  be  somewhat  more  regular. 

A  table  compiled  by  Mr.  R.  P.  Greg,*  shows  that  more  meteor- 
ites have  fallen  in  June  and  July  and  less  in  December  and  January 
than  in  the  other  months. 

A  similar  comparison  of  data  by  Haidinger,f  regarding  the  times 
of  day  at  which  meteorites  fall,  shows  that  more  have  fallen  in  the 
afternoon  than  in  the  forenoon.  This  is  a  result,  as  shown  by  Pro- 
fessor H.  A.  Newton,  \  of  their  movement  in  direct  rather  than  in 
retrograde  orbits,  i.  e.  of  their  following  the  earth. 

"London  Phil.  Mag.,  November,  1854. 

tSitzungsb.  d.  k.,  Ak.,  d,  Wissensch.,  Vienna,  1867. 

jAm.  Jour.  Sci.,  3rd  Ser  ,  Vol.  36,  p   1-14. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  13 

Among  characters  common  to  all  meteorites  which  distinguish 
them  from  bodies  of  terrestrial  origin  may  be  noted,  first,  the  varnish- 
like crust  always  found  upon  their  surface.  This  is  the  result  of  heat- 
ing and  fusion  of  the  surface  during  passage  of  the  mass  through  the 
atmosphere.  In  the  meteoric  stones  it  is  usually  black  and  contrasts 
with  the  gray  or  brown  of  their  interior  (Winnebago  Co.,  340,  Kny- 
ahinya,  287,  Pultusk,  290).  Not  infrequently,  however,  it  is  of  the 
same  color  as  the  interior  (Kesen,  258,  Washington  Co.,  345,  and 
Phillips  Co.,  350).  It  is  usually  of  a  dull  lustre  (Pultusk,  291,  Mocs, 
324),  but  occasonally  shining  (Stannern,  226,  Knyahinya,  286).  In 
many  individuals  it  differs  in  appearance  on  different  portions  of  the 
stone,  being  smooth  and  compact  on  one  part  and  on  another,  rough 
and  slag-like. 

Such  appearances  often  indicate  the  position  which  the  stone 
assumed  during  its  fall,  the  portion  bearing  the  smooth  crust  having 
been  in  advance  (die  Brustseite)  while  the  other  portion  was  at  the 
rear  (die  Ruckenscite),  (Winnebago  Co.,  340,  Mocs,  331).  On  meteor- 
ites which  are  largely  metallic,  the  crust  appears  as  a  brown  (Grand 
Rapids,  116)  or  bluish  (Estherville,  175)  oxidation  of  the  surface,  con- 
trasting with  the  nickel- white  color  of  the  interior.  It  is  never  more 
than  a  millimeter  in  thickness  (Forsyth,  241,  New  Concord,  273)  and 
frequently  exists  only  as  a  smoking  of  the  surface  (Winnebago,  Co., 
34o). 

Other  evidences  of  surface  fusion  are  seen  in  the  rounded  metal- 
lic beads  which  stand  out  over  the  exterior  of  most  stony  meteorites. 
These  are  produced  by  metallic  grains  which  offer  a  greater  resist- 
ance to  heat  than  the  non-metallic  portions  of  the  stone.  Where  the 
metallic  grains  are  quite  small,  they  give  the  surface  a  papillated 
appearance  (Trenzano,  268,  Bath,  351)  but  larger  grains  produce  larger 
protuberances  (Washington  Co.,  347). 

Often  there  are  visible  on  the  crust  of  a  meteorite  (Stannern, 
226)  lines  of  flow,  which  closely  resemble,  though  on  a  much  reduced 
scale,  the  features  of  a  lava  stream,  and  indicate  that  the  surface  of  the 
meteorite  was  in  a  similar  molten  condition. 

The  rounding  of  the  solid  angles  and  sharp  edges  observable  in 
most  meteoric  individuals  (Winnebago  Co.,  340),  even  metallic  ones 
(Toluca,  12,  21),  is  likewise  evidence  of  a  former  plastic  condition  of 
the  exterior. 

A  second  common  characteristic  of  meteorites  is  to  be  found  in 
the  shallow  pits  which  indent  their  surface.  These  vary  much  in 
size  and  depth,  but  usually  have  an  appearance  much  like  thai  of  an 
impression  made  by  a  thumb  upon  a   piece   of  soft   clay  or  putty. 


14  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  t. 

They  are  hence  often  called  thumb  marks  (Phillips  Co.,  350,  Kesen 
257,  Floyd  Co.,  154).     See  Plate  V,  Fig.  1. 

In  the  iron  meteorites  these  are  usually  of  greater  size  and  depth 
and  occasionally  perforate  the  mass  (Canon  Diablo,  146).  See  Plate 
III,  Fig.  3. 

Similar  pittings  are  observed  upon  partially  burned  grains  of 
gunpowder  picked  up  after  the  firing  of  the  heavy  guns  at  Woolwich, 
also  upon  the  touch-holes  of  the  cannon  and  upon  masses  of  steel 
acted  upon  by  an  explosion  of  dynamite. 

They  are  due  in  all  these  cases  to  the  erosive  action  of  gas  re- 
volving rapidly  and  moving  spirally  under  high  pressure,  which  bores 
into  a  solid  mass  with  which  it  comes  in  contact  as  resistlessly  as  a 
gimlet. 

This  mechanical  action  is,  moreover,  accompanied  by  a  chemi- 
cal action  resulting  from  the  combustible  nature  of  iron  at  high  tem- 
peratures. 

While  at  first  thought  it  is  difficult  to  realize  how  a  medium  so 
thin  as  air  can  offer  resistance  to  the  passage  of  a  meteorite  sufficient 
to  fuse  its  surface,  it  can  be  better  understood  by  bearing  in  mind 
the  fact  that  air  is  a  fluid  made  up  of  molecules  as  real  as  those  of 
iron,  and  physically  differing  from  them  only  in  being  more  widely 
separated.  A  solid  body,  therefore,  in  moving  through  the  air,  com- 
presses these  particles,  and  by  friction  against  them  generates  an 
amount  of  heat  corresponding  to  its  velocity.  Experiments  made  by 
Joule  and  Thomson  showed  that  a  wire  was  warmed  i°  C.  by  moving 
through  air  at  a  velocity  of  175  feet  per  second,  and  that  a  velocity 
of  372  feet  per  second  gave  a  rise  in  temperature  of  5.30  C.  Suppos- 
ing, therefore,  that  the  temperature  would  continue  to  increase  as 
the  square  of  the  velocity,  it  can  be  calculated  that  a  velocity  of  20 
miles  per  second,  which  is  the  average  rate  at  which  meteorites  strike 
the  atmosphere,  would  develop  a  temperature  not  far  from  36o,ooo°C, 
in  a  mass  of  the  same  character.  We  may  therefore  consider  a 
meteorite  in  its  contact  with  the  atmosphere  as  exposed  to  a  heat 
capable  of  melting  it  as  readily  as  apiece  of  tallow  is  melted  by  being 
drawn  across  white  hot  iron,  so  that  the  wonder  is,  not  that  it  is  so 
easily  fused,  but  that  anything  is  left  of  it  to  reach  the  earth. 

We  are  thus  able  also  to  understand  the  phenomena  of  light, 
of  clouds,  of  smoke  and  of  sounds  like  thunder  or  of  an  explo- 
sion, which  usually  accompany  the  fall  of  a  meteorite. 

The  intense  heat  raises  to  incandescence  the  surface  of  the  me- 
teorite, causing  it  to  glow  with  a  light  so  powerful  as  occasionally  to 
be  visible  at  noon-day.    The  heated  stratum  of  air  agglomerates  be- 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  15 

hind  the  advancing  mass  in  the  form  of  an  igneous  globe,  making  a 
flame  shaped  like  that  of  a  candle,  and  under  the  intense  heat  a  large 
portion  of  the  mass  is  dissipated  into  a  vapor  or  smoke.  The  heat 
moreover,  causes  cracking  of  the  surface  (Linn  Co.,  255,  Dona  Inez, 
193)  and  an  unequal  expansion  of  the  mass  which  bursts  it,  often 
with  explosive  violence. 

In  spite  of  the  high  temperature  to  which  its  surface  is  raised, 
however,  the  substance  of  the  meteorite  is  so  poor  a  conductor  that 
its  interior  is  often  scarcely  heated  at  all.  When  picked  up  immedi- 
ately after  their  fall,  therefore,  meteorites  are  often  scarcely  more 
than  blood  warm  and  in  one  remarkable  instance,  that  of  the  Dhurm- 
sala  (275)  meteorite,  the  fragments  were  so  cold  as  to  benumb  the 
fingers  of  those  who  collected  them.  This  is  perhaps  the  only  in- 
stance known  in  which  the  cold  of  space  has  become  perceptible  to 
human  senses. 

Another  effect  of  the  passage  of  a  meteorite  through  the  earth's 
atmosphere  is  to  reduce  very  greatly  its  velocity,  so  that  the  speed  of 
its  fall  when  near  the  earth  is  comparable  to  that  of  an  ordinary  fall- 
ing body.  Hence  instead  of  striking  the  earth  at  a  velocity  of  from 
10  to  45  miles  a  second,  which  is  that  at  which  meteorites  enter  the 
atmosphere,  their  force  of  impact  may  be  very  small.  This  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  several  stones  of  the  Hessle  (298)  fall,  struck  upon 
ice  which  was  only  a  few  inches  thick  and  rebounded  without  either 
breaking  the  ice  or  being  themselves  shattered. 

By  dissipating,  therefore,  the  smaller  stones  before  they  reach  the 
earth  and  by  reducing  both  the  size  and  velocity  of  those  which  do 
come  to  it,  the  atmosphere  protects  us  from  what  would  otherwise  be 
a  dangerous  bombardment,  and  makes  the  chances  of  injury  to  life  or 
property  from  the  fall  of  these  bodies  exceedingly  small. 

The  forms  of  meteorites  are  very  various  and  possess  little  regu- 
larity. Many  are  spheroidal  (Pultusk,  290),  some  oblong  (Babb's 
Mill,  cast,  383),  some  tetrahedral  (Mocs,  330),  some  shell-like  as  if 
scaled  from  a  spherical  mass  (Canon  Diablo,  373)  and  many  so  irregu- 
lar as  to  be  lacking  any  definite  form.  They  are  as  a  rule  as  indefi- 
nite as  to  size  and  shape  as  the  fragments  from  any  block  of  stone 
when  shattered  with  a  hammer  and  it  is  therefore  probable  that  they 
have  been  formed  by  the  breaking  up  of  a  larger  mass. 

Such  a  disruption  of  a  meteorite  often  takes  place  shortly  before 
it  reaches  the  earth,  and  as  a  result  many  individuals  of  a  meteoric 
shower  possess  edges  which  are  still  rough  and  jagged  and  show  little 
fusion  of  the  surface  (Winnebago  Co.,  34°).  Perhaps  the  most  remark- 
able instance  of  this. is  furnished  by  the  stone  of  the  Butsura  (398) 


16  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

fall.  At  the  time  of  fall  of  this  meteorite  three  distinct  reports 
were  heard  and  five  different  fragments  were  picked  up  at  four  places 
several  miles  apart.  Three  of  these  fragments  were  found  to  fit 
together  perfectly  and  at  the  points  of  contact  to  exhibit  no  crust, 
though  their  other  surfaces  were  coated  with  it.  The  point  of  junc- 
tion of  the  other  two  fragments  could  also  be  made  out,  though  this 
surface  possessed  a  crust  hardly  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  rest 
of  the  mass.  It  was  also  found  possible  to  unite  all  the  fragments 
into  one  shell-like  mass,  showing  that  this  was  probably  a  unit  as  it 
entered  the  atmosphere  and  that  the  successive  disruptions  took  place 
during  its  passage  to  the  earth. 

Similar  variations  in  crust  are  observable  among  the  individuals 
of  nearly  every  meteoric  shower,  making  it  seem  probable  that  they 
are  produced  by  the  breaking  up  of  a  single  individual. 

It  should  be  noted,  however, that  some  authorities  prefer  to  regard 
the  stones  of  a  meteoric  shower  as  members  of  a  swarm  of  larger  or 
smaller  planetary  individuals  which  had  a  previous  independent  ex- 
istence. 

In  size,  meteorites  vary  from  complete  individuals  no  larger 
than  a  pea  (Winnebago  Co., 340)  to  the  enormous  mass  of  Chupaderos, 
Chihuahua,  Mexico  (Model  422)  whose  weight  has  been  variously  esti- 
mated at  from  fifteen  to  twenty- five  tons.  The  Phillips  Co.,  Kansas, 
meteorite  (350)  if  it  reached  the  earth,  as  is  highly  probable,  in  a 
single  mass,  is  the  largest  single  aerolite  in  existence,  the  aggregate 
weight  of  the  fragments  so  far  found  being  1300  pounds.  The  next 
largest  is  an  individual  of  the  Knyahinya,  Hungary,  fall,  preserved  in 
the  Vienna  Museum,  having  a  weight  of  647  pounds.  Among  the 
aerosiderites  or  iron  meteorites,  however,  there  are  many  of  greater 
size  and  weight,  as  for  example  the  Cranbourne  (68)  mass  now  pre- 
served in  the  British  Museum,  which  weighs  about  four  tons,  the  Red 
River  or  Gibbs  meteorite  (34)  in  the  Yale  College  Museum,  weight 
1630  pounds,  and  several  Mexican  meteorites. 

The  chemical  study  of  meteorites  has  shown  them  to  be  made  up 
of  elements  such  as  are  common  upon  the  earth  and  has  as  yet 
revealed  none  new  to  its  constitution.  About  twenty-five  have  thus 
far  been  recognized,  of  which  iron,  silicon,  magnesium,  nickel,  sulphur, 
phosphorus  and  carbon  are  the  most  important.  The  following  list 
represents  all  that  are  known  to  occur : 

Aluminium   Chlorine         Iron  *Nitrogen      Sodium 

Antimony      Chromium     Lithium         Oxygen  Sulphur 

Arsenic  Cobalt  Magnesium   Phosphorus  Tin 

Calcium         Copper  Manganese    Potassium     Titanium 

Carbon  Hydrogen      Nickel  Silicon 

♦Recent  investigations  by  Prof.  Ramsay  have  shown  that  what  has  been  regarded  as  nitrogen, 
is  largely  made  up  of  argon  and  helium.     See  Nature  Vol.  5?,  p.  2Z\. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  17 

These  are  usually  present  in  combination,  but  hydrogen  and 
nitrogen  occur  as  occluded  gases  and  carbon  in  the  elementary  form 
of  graphite  or  diamond. 

The  following  compounds  occur,  which  in  chemical  composition 
and  physical  properties  seem  to  be  wholly  similar  to  terrestrial  miner- 
als of  the  same  name: 

The  silicates,  chrysolite  (Mg,  Fe)2  Si  04,  enstatite,  Mg  Si  Os, 
bronzite,  (Mg,  Fe)Si  Os,  diopside  including  diallage,  Ca  Mg  (Si  Os)8 
+  Ca  (Mg,  Fe)  (Si  0,)„  augite,  Ca  (Mg,  Fe)  (Si  03)2  +  (Mg,  Fe) 
(Al,  Fe)2  Si  06,  labradorite,  (Na  Al  Si3  Os  +  Ca  Al2  Si2  Os)  and 
anorthite,  Ca  Al 2  Si2  Os;  the  oxides,  magnetite,  Fe  O,  Fe2  03  and 
chromite,  Fe  O,  Cr2  Os ;  the  sulphides,  pyrite,  Fe  S2,  and  pyrrhotite, 
Fe,  S8,  and  the  carbonate,  breunnerite  Mg  Co3  with  Fe  O. 

Quartz,  (Si  02),  though  so  widely  distributed  upon  the  earth,  is 
conspicuous  by  its  absence  from  meteorites.  Small  crystals  have, 
however,  recently  been  observed  in  the  crust  of  some  of  the  Toluca 
irons,*  and  free  silica  occurs  in  several  meteorites  in  the  form  of  asman- 
ite,  a  compound  believed  to  be  identical  with  tridymite.  Zircon,  (Zr  Si 
04)  has  also  been  found  in  one  of  the  Toluca  masses,  and  the  presence 
of  orthoclase,  garnet  and  apatite  in  several  meteorites  is  probable, 
though  not  proved.  Several  soluble  salts,  such  as  chloride  of  sodium, 
and  sulphates  of  sodium,  calcium  and  magnesium,  have  been  found 
in  meteorites,  and  the  carbonaceous  meteorites  contain  bituminous 
substances  which  closely  resemble  terrestrial  bitumens.  As  occluded 
gases  occur  marsh  gas  and  carbon  monoxide  and  dioxide. 

The  soluble  salts  and  breunnerite  are  regarded  by  Cohen  as  of 
secondary  origin,  i.  e.,  formed  after  the  entrance  of  the  meteorite  in- 
to the  earth's  atmosphere,  and  the  same  may  be  true  of  the  gases  and 
bituminous  substances.  Various  other  compounds  found  in  mete- 
orites have  from  time  to  time  been  described  as  distinct  species  but 
their  identity  with  terrestrial  minerals  has  later  been  established. 

The  following  compounds  found  in  meteorites  are  believed  to 
have  no  representatives  among  terrestrial  minerals: 

Various  alloys  of  nickel  and  iron,  including  taenite,  Fe6  Ni, 
kamacite,  Fe14  Ni,  plessite,  Fe28  Ni6  and  edmonsonite;  chalypitc,  a 
compound  of  iron  and  carbon ;  cliftonite,  a  cubic  form  of  graphitic 
carbon;  cohenite,  (Fe,  Ni,  Co)3C;  schreibersite,  (Fe,  Ni)3  P;  troilite, 
Fe  S ;  oldhamite,  Ca  S ;  osbornite,  supposed  to  be  a  sulphide  or  oxysul- 
phide  of  calcium  and  probably  titanium;  daubr^elite,  Fe  S,  Cr2  S3, 
and  lawrencite,  Fe  Cl2. 

The  chemical  character  of  these  compounds  indicates  that  the 
conditions  under  which  they  were  formed  differed  from  those  which 

♦Groth's  Zeitscbr  fur  Kryst.  und  Min.,  Bd.  24.  p.  485. 


18  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

prevail  upon  the  earth,  in  the  absence  of  air  or  free  oxygen  and  of 
water.  The  lack  of  the  first  is  indicated  by  the  phosphide  of  iron, 
schreibersite,  which  would,  in  the  presence  of  oxygen,  have  been 
changed  to  a  phosphate ;  also  by  the  fact  that  the  iron  and  nickel  are 
in  the  elementary  condition  and  not  oxidized,  as  they  are  upon  the 
earth's  surface.  The  absence  of  water  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  no 
hydrous  minerals  are  present  in  meteorites. 

It  is  known  that  either  the  atmosphere  in  which  the  meteorites 
were  formed  or  one  through  which  they  at  some  time  passed,  con- 
tained a  large  amount  of  hydrogen,  from  the  fact  that  it  can  be  ex- 
tracted in  large  quantities  from  some  of  the  metallic  meteorites.  It 
was,  too,  under  a  much  higher  pressure  than  is  that  of  the  earth's 
atmosphere,  since  Graham  obtained  from  the  Lenarto  meteorite  2.85 
times  its  volume  of  mixed  gases,  of  which  hydrogen  formed  85%. 
Under  the  pressure  of  the  earth's  atmosphere  it  is  difficult  to  make  iron 
absorb  more  than  its  own  volume  of  this  gas.  The  reducing  action 
of  this  hydrogen-laden  atmosphere  must  be  very  great  and  in  gen- 
eral it  may  be  said  that  meteorites  differ  from  analogous  terrestrial 
rocks  in  containing  in  a  reduced  state  substances  which  occur  as 
oxides  upon  the  earth. 

Considered  as  mineral  aggregates,  meteorites  may  be  conveniently 
divided  into  three  classes  according  as  they  are  made  up  chiefly  of 
iron,  partly  of  iron  and  partly  of  stone  or  chiefly  of  stone. 

The  meteorites  of  the  first  class  have  been  called  by  Maskelyne 
aerosiderites  (from  drtp,  air,  and  oifypov,  iron)  or  by  Daubree  holosider- 
ites,  (8A"?,  whole,  ottypo?,  iron).  The  term  is  frequently  shortened  to 
siderite  but  the  abbreviation  is  objectionable  on  account  of  the  liabili- 
■  ty  of  its  confusion  with  the  mineral  of  the  same  name.  The  meteorites 
of  the  second  class  are  called  by  the  same  authors  derosiderolites  (dijp, 
air,  oid-qpos,  iron,  and  W<>$,  stone)  or  syssiderites  (o&v,  with,  otiypos,  iron). 
Those  of  the  third  class  are  known  as  aerolites  (typ,  air  and  ).{0o?,  stone,) 
or  by  Daubree  are  divided  into  the  two  groups  of  sporado-siderites 
(o7:opd$t  scattered,  oidypo?,  iron,)  and  asiderites  (d  without,  oidijpog,  iron.) 

The  aerosiderites,  as  is  indicated  by  their  name,  are  made  up 
chiefly  of  iron.  This  is,  however,  always  alloyed  with  nickel.  The 
percentage  of  iron  in  the  mass  varies  between  87%  and  97%  and  that 
of  nickel  from  a  fraction  of  one  per  cent  to  15%. 

Two  exceptions  to  this  are  known  among  irons  supposed  to  be 
meteoric.  One  is  that  of  Octibbeha  Co.,  Miss.,  which  contains  38% 
of  iron  to  60%  of  nickel  and  the  other  that  of  Santa  Catarina,  Brazil 
(97-108)  which  bears  64%of  iron  to  34%of  nickel.  It  is  possible,  how- 
ever, that  the  latter  is  of  terrestrial  origin. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  19 

The  association  of  iron  and  nickel  in  the  form  of  an  alloy  was 
long  thought  to  be  a  peculiarity  of  meteoric  bodies,  but  at  least  two 
terrestrial  minerals  are  now  known,  which  are  constituted  of  such  an 
alloy.  One  of  these,  awaruite  (361),  contains  67%  of  nickel  to  31% 
of  iron,  the  other,  josephinite  (367),  60%  of  nickel  to  23%  of  iron. 

The  iron  found  in  large  masses  on  Disco  Island  and  other  parts 
of  West  Greenland  also  resembles  the  aerosiderites  very  closely  in 
composition,  since  it  contains  from  1  to  6%  of  nickel  and  small  per- 
centages of  phosphorus  and  carbon. 

These  occurrences  are  so  isolated,  however,  that  in  general,  masses 
of  iron  alloyed  with  nickel,  when  found  upon  the  earth's  surface,  may 
be  regarded  as  being  probably  of  meteoric  origin,  especially  if  they 
also  exhibit  a  crust  and  pitted  surface  like  that  described,  and  etch- 
ing figures  such  as  will  be  mentioned  later. 

Other  elements  commonly  occurring  in  the  aerosiderites,  though 
in  much  smaller  quantities,  are  copper,  cobalt,  manganese,  phosphorus, 
sulphur  and  carbon. 

The  phosphorus  is  usually  combined  with  iron  in  the  form  of 
schreibersite,  the  sulphur  with  iron  as  troilite,  while  the  carbon  may 
be  either  free  in  a  graphitic  form  or  as  minute  diamonds,  or  com- 
bined with  iron. 

The  proportions  of  the  different  elements  as  they  commonly  oc- 
cur in  the  aerosiderites  are  illustrated  by  the  following  analyses  of 
some  of  those  represented  in  the  collection: — 

Fe.  Ni.  Co.  Cu.  P. 

(1)  Toluca (7)  90.72  8.49  0.44  ....  0.18  X  .03  =100.46 

(2)  Braunau   (55)  91.88  5.52  0  53  2.07  ....  C,  S  tr.  =100. 

(3)  BatesCo.Mo (95)  89.12  10  02  0.26  0.01  0.12  =99.53 

(4)  Grand  Rapids, Mich.  (116)  88  71  10  69  ....  0  07  0  20  COO   S  03    =99.82' 

(5)  Glorieta  Mt,  N.  M.  (122)  87.93  11.15  0.33  ....  0.36  =99.77 

(6)  St.  Croix  Co.,  Wis..  (125)  89.78  7.65  1.33  tr.  0.51  C  tr.     Sn/r.  =  99.27 

The  specific  gravity  of  the  meteoric  irons  ranges  between  5.75 
and  8.31,  nearly  all  lying  between  7.5  and  7.9. 

Most  meteoric  irons  present  a  distinct  crystalline  structure,  the 
features  of  which  are  brought  out  by  etching  a  polished  surface  with 
acids.  There  then  appear  upon  the  surface,  bands  or  lines  intersect- 
ing one  another  at  various  angles,  according  to  the  direction  of  the 
section.  These  are  enclosed  in  a  more  or  less  unindividualized 
ground  mass. 

(1)  Taylor,  Am.  J.Sc.  Vol.  22  p.  374,  1856;  (2)  Duflos  and  Fischer,  Pogg.  Ann.  Vol.  72,  pp.  170,  475,  18- 
47;  (3)  J-  L.  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sc.  3rd  series, Vol.  13,  p.  213,  1877;  (4)  Riggs,  ibid,  Vol.  30,  p.  M2,  1885;  (5) 
Mackintosh,  ibid,  Vol.  30,  p.  238,  i88j;  (6)  D.  Fisher,  ibid, Vol.  34,  p.  381,  1887.  For  further  analyses 
see  Lithological  Studies  by  M.  E.  Wadsworth,  Mem.  Mus.  Comp.  Zool.,  Harvard  Coll.,  Vol.  XI,  Part 
I,  Oct.  1884. 


2o  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

Upon  close  examination  the  bands  are  found  to  be  made  up  of  a 
broad,  central  plate  depressed  below  the  surface,  which  is  bounded  by 
narrow  ones  in  relief.     These  are  shown  in  Figs,  i  and  2,  Plate  II. 

Analysis  of  these  plates  by  Reichenbach  has  shown  that  the 
broader  ones  are  made  up  of  an  alloy  of  nickel  and  iron  containing  a 
large  percentage  of  iron  and  hence  readily  dissolved  by  the  acid. 
This  alloy  he  called  kamacite.  The  narrow  plates,  made  up  of  an 
alloy  which  he  called  tacnite,  contain  a  larger  percentage  of  nickel, 
are  less  readily  dissolved  and  hence  stand  out  in  relief.  The  ground 
mass,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  plessite,  he  considered  as  having 
a  proportion  of  iron  and  nickel  between  the  two.  Recent  investiga- 
tions by  Davison,*  however,  indicate  that  there  may  be  but  two  alloys 
present,  the  plessite  representing  simply  portions  of  the  mass  where 
the  bands  of  taenite  are  so  closely  crowded  as  to  protect  the  kama- 
cite from  the  action  of  the  acid.  This  is  rendered  more  probable 
by  observing  the  insensible  gradations  by  which  the  finer  lines, 
called  by  J.  L.  Smith  Laphamite  markings,  pass  into  the  ground 
mass  as  if  there  were  no  real  division  between  them.  See  Plate  II, 
Fig.  1. 

The  angles  at  which  the  bands  meet  are  dependent,  as  has  been 
stated,  upon  the  direction  of  the  section  and  also  upon  their  parallel- 
ism to  the  faces  of  either  the  octahedron,  cube  or  dodecahedron,  of 
the  isometric  system.  All  of  these  planes  may  occur  in  one  meteorite 
but  commonly  only  those  of  one  kind  appear  and  give  to  the  iron  a 
characteristic  structure,  distinguishing  them  as  either  octahedral  or 
cubic. 

The  varying  thickness  of  the  plates  and  differences  in  their 
angles  of  intersection  produce  a  variety  of  figures  which  characterize 
irons  of  different  falls.  See  Plates  I,  II  and  III.  Since  they  were 
first  described  by  Widmanstatten,  they  are  called  Widmanstatten 
figures.  They  form  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  metallic 
meteorites  and  were  long  thought  to  be  peculiar  to  such  bodies,  but 
are  now  known  to  be  imitated  by  the  etching  figures  of  steel  and  of 
the  native  iron  of  Greenland.  They  have  been  produced  by  Daubree 
upon  a  mass  artificially  formed  by  fusing  together  iron,  nickel  and 
phosphides  of  iron  and  nickel.  They  are,  therefore,  rather  to  be  con- 
sidered as  indicative  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  meteoric  mass 
originated  than  as  representing  any  distinct  property  of  extra-ter- 
restrial matter. 

As  examples  of  coarse  etching  figures,  i.  e.  those  made  up  of 
broad  bands,  may  be  noted  sections  of  the  Toluca  (16),  Staunton  (79), 
Robertson  Co.  (83)  and  Canon  Diablo  (147),  irons.    More  delicate  fig- 

*Am.  J.  Sc  3rd  ser  ,  Vol.  42,  p  64. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  21 

ures,  /'.  e.  made  up  of  narrower  bands,  can  be  seen  in  the  Lion  River 
(62),  Smith's  Mt.,  N.C.  (85),  Bear  Creek  (89),  Bates  Co.,  Mo.  (96) 
and  Hamilton  Co.,  Texas  (131),  irons. 

The  finer  lines  were  regarded  by  Neumann  as  indicating  an 
essentially  different  structure  from  that  shown  by  the  Widmanstatten 
figures  and  they  are  hence  often  called  Neumann  lines. 

As  pointed  out  by  Huntington,*  however,  every  gradation  can 
be  traced  between  the  coarsest  Widmanstatten  figures  and  finest 
Neumann  lines,  so  that  there  is  no  reason  for  regarding  them  as  dis- 
tinct. In  Huntington's  view  the  coarser  figures  characterize  the  irons 
in  which  there  was  a  large  amount  of  foreign  matter  to  be  elimi- 
nated, the  finer,  the  purer  irons.  The  former  moreover  tend  to  an 
octahedral  structure,  the  latter,  a  cubic. 

Most  authorities  agree  that  the  crystalline  structure  exhibited  in 
the  meteoric  irons  indicates  that  they  remained  for  a  long  time  in  a 
fused  or  viscous  state  from  which  they  cooled  but  slowly. 

Thus  Tschermakf  states  that  "the  greater  number  of  meteoric 
irons  exhibit  a  structure  which  indicates  that  each  formed  part  of  a 
large  mass  possessing  similar  crystalline  characters  and  the  formation 
of  such  large  masses  presupposes  long  intervals  of  time  for  tranquil 
crystallization  at  a  uniform  temperature".  SorbyJ  also  regards  "the 
Widmanstatten  figures  as  the  result  of  such  a  complete  separation 
of  the  constituents  and  perfect  crystallization  as  can  occur  only  when 
the  process  takes  place  slowly  and  gradually.  They  appear  to  me  to 
show  that  the  mass  was  kept  for  a  long  time  at  a  heat  just  below  the 
point  of  fusion. " 

Further  evidence  of  this  is  seen  in  the  curved  or  bent  plates  con- 
tained in  some  meteoric  irons  (Stutsman  Co.,  126),  which  were 
probably  formed  as  true  planes  but,  remaining  viscous  longer  than 
other  portions  of  the  mass,  suffered  subsequent  distortion. 

It  should  be  noted  that  there  are  some  irons  usually  regarded  as 
meteoric,  which  exhibit  no  trace  of  the  Widmanstatten  figures 
(Chesterville,  56,  Allen  Co.,  92,  Maverick  Co.,  113).  Others  show 
only  a  coarse,  irregular  network  of  markings  (Seelasgen,  375,  Puquois, 
124,  Silver  Crown,  130). 

These  may  be  considered  as  having  been  formed  under  somewhat 
different  conditions  from  those  which  prevailed  in  the  formation  of 
other  meteoric  irons,  or  it  may  be  questioned  whether  they  are  not  of 
terrestrial  origin. 

♦Proc.  Am.  Acad.  Arts  and  Sciences,  May,  i836,  also  Am.  J.  Sc,  3rd  ser..  Vol.  32,  p.  284. 
tSitz.  Wien.  Akad.,  1875,  Bd.  71,  pp.  661-673. 
JNature,  1877,  Vol.  15,  p.  498. 


22  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

Other  markings  which  may  be  noted  upon  the  etched  surfaces  of 
many  irons  are  produced  by  included  nodules  of  troilite.  These  may 
take  various  forms,  such  as  circular  (Orange  River,72,  Allen  Co. ,91), 
oval  (Staunton,  80),  elongated  (Toluca,  25),  radiated  (Hamilton  Co., 
131),  or  running  in  veins  (Joe  Wright  Mountain,  121). 

Occasionally  there  appear  upon  the  etched  surfaces  delicate, 
short,  sunken  lines  running  in  parallel  directions  or  intersecting  at 
regular  angles  (Walker  Co.,  38,  Maverick  Co.,  113,  Hex  River  Mts., 
115).  According  to  Brezina  these  mark  also  the  position  of  inclu- 
sions of  troilite. 

Other  scattered,  irregular  flakes  of  a  bronze-like  lustre,  indicate 
the  presence  of  schreibersite  (Wichita  Co.,  41,  Careyfort,  50,  Youn- 
degin,  118). 

Together  with  the  crystalline  structure  •  many  aerosiderites  dis- 
play well-marked  cleavage,  usually  octahedral  (Toluca,  17,  Henry 
Co.,  136,  Kenton  Co.  134)  but  occasionally  cubic  (Braunau,  55)  or 
dodecahedral.  This  structure  is  also  possessed  by  some  irons  which 
exhibit  no  etching  figures  whatever,  and  in  general  seems  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  crystalline  planes  because  the  cleavage  planes  fre- 
quently pass  through  the  crystalline  plates,  indicating  that  they  are 
of  separate  origin. 

The  aerosiderolites  consist  usually  of  a  spongy  mass  of  nickelifer- 
ous  iron  in  the  pores  of  which  are  contained  grains  of  silicates.  The 
silicate  most  commonly  found  occurring  in  this  way  is  chrysolite  and 
its  typical  mode  of  occurrence  is  shown  in  the  Krasnojarsk  (159)  mete- 
orite. This  meteorite,  having  been  first  reported  by  the  traveler 
Pallas  in  1776,  is  frequently  known  as  the  Pallas  iron,  and  the  name 
Pallasite  is  given  to  meteorites  of  this  class.  Those  of  Kiowa  Co.> 
(200)  are  excellent  examples. 

In  the  Rittersgriin  meteorite,  (164)  the  pores  of  the  iron  are 
filled  with  a  mixture  of  asmanite  and  bronzite,  in  that  of  Atacama 
(170)  with  chrysolite  mingled  with  pyroxene  and  chromite;  in  that  of 
Estherville  (177)  with  chrysolite,  diallage,  pyrrhotite  and  troilite. 
The  aerosiderolites  pass  so  gradually  from  the  aerosiderites  on  the 
one  hand  to  the  aerolites  on  the  other  that  their  grouping  as  a  dis- 
tinct class  is  adopted  only  for  convenience.  Occasionally,  too,  in  indi- 
viduals of  the  same  fall,  both  classes  are  represented.  Thus  some 
of  the  Kiowa  Co.  meteorites  are  true  pallasites  (200,  202,  206)  while 
others  are  entirely  metallic(204,205).  Among  the  stones  of  the  Esther- 
ville (175,  178)  fall,  can  be  traced  every  gradation  between  aerosidero- 
lites and  aerolites. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  23 

Upon  the  metallic  portions  of  the  aerosiderolites  the  Widman- 
statten  figures  can  usually  be  brought  out  (Atacama  162.  Roclo- 
wood  184)  and,  as  these  are  quite  similar  to  those  of  the  wholly  metallic 
meteorites,  they  indicate  the  existence  of  corresponding  conditions 
in  the  formation  of  the  mass. 

Analyses  of  some  of  the  aerosiderolites  represented  in  the  collec- 
tion show  the  following  composition : — 

(1)  (2)  (3)                  (-1)                  (5) 

Atacama,  Krasnojarsk,  Rittersgriin,  Carroll  Co.,  Hainholz, 

Chile.  Siberia.  Saxony,                   Ky.               Prussia. 

(160)  (157)  (164)                   (180)                 (165) 

Si  02 13.60  20.43  26-79  29-52  33-24 

Fe 60.27  44-°2  jFe-fNi.  1  20.48  4.12 

Fe2  03 1   50.41IJ  22>2o 

Fe  O 4.09  6.86  3.53  14.11  3.51 

Al2  03 O.OI  JMnO)  0.70  O.72 

CaO 1  0.21  f  0#66 

MgO 15.68  23.67  6.31  31.37  30.52 

NL... 5.73  5.37  JNa80)  4-22  LOS 

Co 0.23  <    °-48»  0.28 

£U j00,  °'°2  JP         J.        JCr203*FeOt 

Sn }°-°>  ,FeSl  '  °°*<       >  °5°    f 

H2  O 1  7  23f  2.86 

Insol 0.20  0.24 

99.58  101.07  96.13  100.00  98.72 

Sp.  Gr.. 6.16  5.44  4.29  4.41  4.61 

From  meteorites  of  this  class  ever}'-  gradation  can  be  traced  to 
the  aerolites,  meteorites  in  which  the  stony  or  siliceous  matter  predo- 
minates. These  usually  contain  scattered  metallic  grains,  sporado- 
siderites  of  Daubree  (Kesen,  257,  New  Concord,  274,  Homestead,  314), 
but  some  show  no  metallic  constituents  whatever,  asiderites  of  Dau- 
bree (Alais,  221,  Juvinas,  237).  The  aerolites  are  made  up  chiefly  of 
the  minerals  chrysolite,  bronzite,  augite,  enstatite  or  some  other 
member  of  the  pyroxene  group,  anorthite  or  other  feldspar,  chromite, 
nickel-iron  and  troilite.  These  are  usually  crystallized  and  occur  in 
angular,  splintery  fragments,  but  are  sometimes  developed  porphyriti- 

(1)  Von  Kobell  and  Rivero,  Korrespondenz-BIatt  Vereines  Regensberg,  1851 .  Recalculated  by 
M.  E.  Wadsworth  on  the  supposition  that  the  silicates  constitute  one-third  of  the  mass. 

(a)    J.  J.  Berzelius,  Ann,  Phys.  u.  Chemie  1834,  Vol.  33,  pp.  123—135. 

Recalculated  by  M.  E.  Wadsworth  on  the  supposition  that  the  silicates  compose  one-half  of  the 
mass. 

(3)  C  Winkler,  Nova  Acta  I.eop.  Acad.  Halle,  1878,  Vol.  40,  pp.  333,  282. 

(4)  J.  B.  Mackintosh,  Am.  J.  Sc.  3rd  ser  ,  Vol.  33,  p.  282.  Mar.  1887.  Recalculated  by  ihe  author 
on  the  supposition  that  the  silicates  constitute  three-fourths  of  the  mass. 

(5)  C  Ranimelsberg,  Mon.  Berlin  Akad.,  1870,  pp.  322—325. 

Other  analyses  may  be  found  in  the  work  of  Wadsworth,  previously  cited. 


24  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

cally  in  an  amorphous  or  crypto-crystalline  ground.  The  occurrence 
and  association  of  these  minerals  is  similar  to  that  in  the  eruptive 
rocks  of  the  earth,  and  these  they  closely  resemble.  Representatives 
of  many  of  the  different  varieties  of  eruptive  rocks  can  indeed  be 
found  among  the  aerolites,  so  that,  in  the  view  of  Wadsworth,  no 
distinctions  in  classification  should  be  made  between  rocks  of  terres- 
trial and  extra-terrestrial  origin  if  they  resemble  one  another  in  con- 
stitution. Thus  the  aerolites  containing  no  feldspar  and  made  up 
chiefly  of  chrysolite  are  classed  by  him  with  the  peridotites,  the  dif- 
ferent varieties  finding  representatives  as  follows: — Dunite,  a  rock 
made  up  chiefly  of  chrysolite  and  chromite,  is  represented  by  the 
meteorite  of  Chassigny;  saxonite,  composed  of  chrysolite  and  ensta- 
tite,  by  those  of  Homestead  (313)  Knyahinya  (284)  and  Waconda  (389) ; 
lherzolite,  made  up  of  chrysolite,  enstatite  and  diallage,  by  those  of 
Pultusk  (289)  and  New  Concord  (274). 

Similarly  the  aerolites  containing  feldspar  may  be  considered  as 
corresponding  to  the  basalts  and  gabbros  in  mineralogical  constitu- 
tion ;  basalt,  made  up  of  augite  and  anorthite,  finding  a  representative 
in  the  stones  of  the  Stannern  (225)  fall;  gabbro,  composed  of  anor- 
thite and  enstatite,  in  the  meteorite  of  Juvinas  (237). 

While  such  a  grouping  is  convenient  for  keeping  in  mind  the 
mineral  constitution  of  the  different  aerolites,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
its  application  should  be  pushed  much  farther,  since  the  distinction 
of  origin  is  one  of  considerable  importance. 

The  classification  suggested  b}'  Tschermak*  for  the  aerolites  is 
as  follows : 

I.  Aerolites  made  up  of  chrysolite  and  bronzite  with  iron  subor- 
dinate, texture  mostly  chondritic.  (L'Aigle,  Knyahinya,  New  Con- 
cord, Pultusk,  etc.) 

II.  Aerolites  made  up  chiefly  of  chrysolite  or  bronzite  or  other 
pyroxene. 

(a)  Chassignite,  composed  mostly  of  chrysolite.     (Chassigny.) 

(b)  Amphoterite,  composed  of  chrysolite  and  bronzite.     (Man- ' 
bhoom.) 

(c)  Diogenite,  composed  of  bronzite  or  hypersthene.  (Ibben- 
buhren,  Shalka.) 

(d)  Chladnite,  composed  of  enstatite.    (Bishopville). 

(e)  Bustite,  composed  of  diopside  and  enstatite.     (Busti). 

III.  Aerolites  made  up  of  augite,  bronzite,  and  lime  feldspar  and 
having  a  shining  crust. 

(a)  Howardite,  composed  of  augite,  bronzite  and  plagioclase, 
(Frankfort,  Lontolaks.) 

(b)  Eukrite,  composed  of  augite  with  anorthite  or  maskelynite. 
(Juvinas,  Jonzac,  Stannern,  Peterborough.) 

*Ber.  Ak.  Wien.,  Bd.  88,  pp.  347,  371.  1883. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


25 


Following  are  analyses  of  some  of  the 
the  collection : — 

(1)  (2) 

Pultusk,  Iowa  County, 

Poland.  Iowa. 

(289)  (313) 

Si  Os 35.85  36.34 

A1203 1.96  0.63 

Fe 15.55  11. 16 

Fe2  03 3.85 

Fe  O." 12.12  22.28 

CaO 1.56 

MgO 24.95  >9-7o 

Na2  0 0.95  1.40 

K2  0 0.39  tr. 

Cr8  03 2.21 

Ni 

Co 

Li20 

P 

S 

Fe  S 


aerolites  represented  in 


99-39 

(•■)) 

Knyahinya, 

Hungary. 

(384) 

Si02 44.30 

A1203 3-06 

Fe 

Fe2  03 

FeO 16.38 

CaO 2.73 

Mg  O 22.16 

MnO 

Na„  O 1. 00 

K20 0.66 

Cr2  03 0.80 

Fe  -+-Ni 5.00 

p,o6 

s 

H2  O 

FeS 2.22 

Ti00 


98.31 


tr. 


100.61 


(3) 

Schonenberg, 

Bavaria. 

(4) 

New  Concord, 
Ohio. 

(254) 

(273) 

40.13 

42.25 

5-57 

0.28 

13.77 

9.31 

17.12 

25-03 

2.31 

0.02 

13.81 

21.91 

2.20 
o.73 

]    o-99 

0.60 

1.30 

1.47 

1.32 

0.08 

0.04 

tr. 

0.36 

tr. 

i-93 

0.1 1 

5.82 

98.71 

100. 

101.26 

(0) 

(7) 

(8) 

Stannern, 

Juvinas, 

Bishopville, 

Moravia. 

France. 

S.  C. 

(325) 

(237) 

(251) 

48.30 

49-23 

67.14 

12.65 

I2-55 
0.16 

I.48 

1. 21 

1. 71 

19.32 

20.33 

11.27 

10.23 

I.82 

6.87 

6.44 

27.12 

0.81 

tr. 

0.62 

0.63 

0.23 

0.12 

+FeOo.54 

0.24 

0.28 
0.09 

o.  10 


101.61 


0.67 


99-94 


C.  Rammelsberg,  Mon.  Berlin  Akad.  1870,  pp.  418-452. 

J.  L.  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  1875,  3rd  ser.,  vol.  10,  pp.  362-363. 

C.  W.  Giimbel,  Sitz.  Munthen  Akad.,  18  8,  vol   8,  pp.  40-46. 

J.  L.  Smith,  Am.  J.  Sci.  1861,  7nd  ser..  vol.  31.  pp  87-98. 

E.  H.  von  Baumhauer,  Archives  Nlerland,  1872,  vol.  7,  pp.  146-153. 

C.  Rammelsberg.  Ann.  Phys.  u.  Chem.,  1851,  vol.83,  pp.  591-593- 

C.  Rammelsberg,  Ann.  Phys.  u.  Chem.,  184K.  vol.  77,  pp.  5*5-590. 

W.  S    von  Waltershauser,  Ann    Chem.  u.  Phar.,  1875,  vol.  79,  pp.  369-374. 


26  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

In  specific  gravity  the  majority  of  aerolites  range  from  3.00  to 
3.80,  being  on  the  whole  heavier  than  terrestrial  rocks  of  the  same 
nature  on  account  of  the  greater  quantity  of  metallic  constituents. 

Viewed  as  to  structure  the  greater  number  of  aerolites  are  found 
to  be  made  up  chiefly  of  little  spheres,  varying  in  size  from  those  as 
large  as  a  cherry  to  those  only  visible  under  the  microscope.  These 
are  called  chondri  from  the  Greek  %ovdpo?f  a  ball,  and  meteorites  pos- 
sessing this  structure  are  said  to  be  chond>  itic. 

The  chondritic  structure  is  often  discernible  by  the  naked  eye,  as 
may  be  seen  in  the  specimens  of  Weston  (224),  Forsyth  (240),  Pusi- 
nsko  (250),  Trenzano  (268),  Knyahinya  (284)  and  many  others. 

When  examined  with  sufficient  magnifying  power  the  chondri 
can  be  seen  to  be  composed  of  angular,  crystalline  fragments  chiefly 
of  chrysolite  or  some  pyroxene.  See  Plate  VI,  Fig.  1.  These  may  be 
present  as  one  individual  (monosomatic)  or  more  commonly  of  several 
(polysomatic). 

An  eccentric  fan-shaped  chondrus  made  up  of  radiating  fibres 
of  enstatite  is  a  very  unique  and  characteristic  form.  One  such  may 
be  noted  in  the  section  of  the  Simbirsk  meteorite,  shown  in  Plate  VI, 
Fig.  1.  Other  arrangements  of  the  grains  or  fibres  which  may  be 
noted  are  concentric,  reticulated  and  radiated. 

The  chondrus  is  frequently  enclosed  in  a  shell  of  metallic  grains 
which  gives  it  a  distinct  outline  and  separates  it  from  the  ground  mass. 
This  is  illustrated  in  Plate  VI,  Fig.  2. 

The  conditions  which  have  brought  about  the  formation  of  these' 
chondri  are  not  well  tinderstood  though  the  question  has  been  much 
discussed  and  various  hypotheses  have  been  suggested.  The  views 
of  earlier  observers  were  to  the  effect  that  the  chondri  represented 
fragments  of  pre-existing  rock  which  by  oscillation  and  consequent 
attrition  obtained  a  spherical  form.  Sorby*  has  regarded  them  as 
produced  by  cooling  and  aggregation  of  minute  drops  of  melted 
stony  matter.  Tschermakf  considers  their  origin  similar  to  that  of  the 
spherules  met  with  in  volcanic  tuffs,  which  owe  their  form  to  pro- 
longed explosive  activity  in  a  volcanic  throat,  breaking  up  the  older 
rocks  and  rounding  the  particles  by  constant  attrition. 

Different  views  are,  however,  set  forth  by  BrezinaJ  and  Wads- 
worth§,  who  believe  that  the  chondri  have  been  produced  by  rapid 
and  arrested  crystallization  in- a  molten  mass. 

*Geol.  Mag.  1865  (t)  ii,  447. 

tPhil.  Mag.  1876  (5)  i,  497-507. 

JDie  Meteoritensammlung  in  Wien,  1885,  p.  19. 

§LithoIogical  Studies,  p.  no. 


Meteorite  Colisection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  27 

The  principal  objection  to  the  first  view,  pointed  out  by  Wads- 
worth,  is  that  fragments  of  pre-existing  rock  ought  to  show  the  con- 
stitution of  the  rock  as  a  whole  instead  of  a  specialized  structure. 
That  to  the  second,  pointed  out  by  Merrill*  in  the  case  of  the  San 
Emigdio  meteorite  at  least,  is  that  the  great  variety  of  forms  under 
which  the  minerals  of  a  single  stone  often  appear,  make  it  impossible 
to  conceive  of  them  as  crystallizing  from  a  single  magma. 

It  is  evident  that  no  positive  answer  can  be  given  to  the  question 
as  yet  and  it  may  be  that  the  conditions  under  which  the  various 
structures  have  been  produced  have  been  essentially  different. 

The  matrix  or  mass  of  the  stone  in  which  the  chondri  are  imbed- 
ded is  usually  made  up  of  consolidated  mineral  splinters  such  as 
might  have  been  produced  by  the  breaking  down  of  the  chondri  them- 
selves.   It  is  occasionally,  however,  of  a  glassy  or  amorphous  nature. 

The  structure  of  aerolites  not  chondritic  is  frequently  brecciated 
(Weston,  223,  Taborg,  335)  i.  e.,made  up  of  rock  fragments  cemented 
together,  while  others  seem  to  have  undergone  metamorphism  subse- 
quent to  their  consolidation  (Chantonnay,  232). 

Evidence  of  physical  change  subsequent  to  consolidation  is  given 
by  the  slickensided  surfaces  observable  in  many  meteorites  (Linn  Co., 
255,  Kesen,  267,  Bath,  351). 

These  are  smooth,  polished  surfaces  seen  in  different  portions  of 
the  mass  and  are  analogous  to  those  found  along  faults  in  terrestrial 
rocks.  They  indicate  a  slipping  or  gliding  of  one  portion  of  the  rock 
on  another  after  it  had  become  cooled  and  solidified. 

In  the  Puquios  meteorite,  which  has  a  mass  wholly  metallic,  a 
distinct  faulting  was  observed  by  Howell.  As  some  of  the  Toluca 
irons  were  found  to  become  extremely  friable  on  heating,  it  is  prob- 
able that  this  faulting  might  have  taken  place  during  the  passage 
of  the  mass  near  the  sun  or  some  other  hot  body. 

Veins  are  found  penetrating  the  mass  of  many  meteorites  (Char- 
son  ville,  230,  Waconda,  310,  Mocs,  323).  These  are  frequently  filled 
with  metal  (Schonenberg,  254,  Washington  Co.,  327,  a)  and  in  this 
case  may  have  been  produced  as  suggested  by  Preston  by  flowing  of 
the  molten  metal  into  fissures  made  by  cracking  of  the  mass  during  its 
passage  through  the  air.  Others,  however,  contain  opaque,  graphitic 
or  amorphous  substances  which  probably  segregated  previous  to  the 
entrance  of  the  meteorite  into  the  earth's  atmosphere. 

A  class  of  meteorites  in  the  formation  of  which  igneous  agencies 
could  have  played  little  part  are  those  known  as  carbonaceous.  These 
are  black,  very  friable  bodies  having  a  specific  gravity  not  over  2.00 

•Proc.  U.  S.  N-  If.  No.  11,  1888. 


28  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

and  containing  carbon  compounds  closely  resembling  terrestrial  bitu- 
mens. Notably  in  the  Cold  Bokkeveld  meteorite  (246)  occurs  a  sub- 
stance much  like  bitumen  from  which  a  wax-like  hydrocarbon  can  be 
dissolved  out  by  alcohol.  Other  examples  of  carbonaceous  meteorites, 
are  those  of  Alais  (221),  Orgueil  (282),  Entre  Rios  (320),  and  Kaba. 

As  these  carbon  compounds  seem  to  exist  only  in  the  pores  of  the 
stone,  it  has  been  suggested  by  Maskelyne  that  they  may  have  been 
absorbed  during  its  passage  through  the  atmosphere,  but  this  is  not 
certain.  Besides  the  carbon  compounds,  some  meteorites  of  this  class 
contain  soluble  alkaline  salts  which  act  as  a  cement  to  consolidate  the 
meteorite,  but  when  moistened  with  water  cause  it  to  completely  dis- 
integrate. These  salts  are  sulphates  of  sodium,  calcium,  magnesium 
and  potassium. 

Having  thus  traced  in  outline  the  principal  characters  of  meteor- 
ites there  remains  for  answer  the  interesting  question  as  to  what  has 
been  the  probable  origin  of  these  bodies.  While  it  is  not  the  prov- 
ince of  this  Handbook  to  enter  into  any  elaborate  discussion  of  the 
question,  a  study  of  meteorites  can  hardly  be  considered  complete 
without  a  mention  of  some  of  the  different  theories  which  have  been 
proposed  to  account  for  their  origin. 

It  is  evident,  as  has  been  said,  from  the  chemical  character  of 
the  substances  found  in  meteorites,  that  water  and  air  must  have 
been  absent  from  the  laboratory  of  nature  in  which  they  were  formed. 

It  is  apparently  true  also  that  life  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
formation  of  the  substances  which  meteorites  contain.  The  consti- 
tuent substances  most  likely  to  have  been  of  organic  origin  are  the 
hydro-carbons  previously  mentioned,  which  resemble  terrestrial  bitu- 
mens. The  latter  are  generally  regarded  as  being  one  of  the  products 
of  the  decomposition  of  vegetable  matter,  but  that  they  may  have  had 
a  mineral  origin  as  well  is  not  denied,  so  that  the  presence  of  similar 
substances  in  meteorites  is  no  proof  of  previous  life. 

The  close  resemblance  which  aerolites  bear  to  volcanic  terres- 
trial rocks  has  led  many  to  seek  their  origin  in  material  ejected 
from  the  volcanoes  of  the  earth  or  moon. 

This  view  has  had  many  able  supporters,  notably  the  astronomer 
Laplace  and  the  mineralogist  J.  Lawrence  Smith.  A  careful  study 
however  of  the  amount  of  projectile  force  required  to  throw  the  me- 
teoric bodies  beyond  the  attraction  of  the  terrestrial  or  lunar  sphere 
and  of  the  amount  of  matter  which  must  have  been  thus  ejected  in 
order  to  furnish  the  number  of  meteorites  that  have  been  observed, 
shows  both  to  be  far  beyond  any  probable  quantity. 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  29 

It  may  also  be  urged  against  this  view  that  the  volcanoes  of  the 
moon  are  not  now  active  and  the  chances  are  exceedingly  few  that 
matter  thrown  from  them  in  times  past,  once  missing  the  earth, 
would  ever  reach  it  again.  Also  that  from  terrestrial  volcanoes  no 
substances  like  those  forming  the  metallic  meteorites  have  ever  been 
ejected,  and  that,  while  in  general  the  aerolites  resemble  volcanic  rocks, 
they  are  in  fact  so  distinct  as  to  be  readily  distinguished  from  them. 

Another  view  which  has  been  seriously  urged  is  that  meteorites 
have  had  a  solar  origin. 

Such  a  hypothesis,  however,  requires  that  solid  bodies,  some  of 
them  combustible,  should  come  from  the  hot  sun,  and  further  that 
their  paths  should  be  in  a  line  parallel  to  the  ecliptic.  The  latter  is 
not  the  case  with  the  paths  of  many  meteorites. 

By  another  hypothesis  meteorites  are  regarded  as  having  come 
from  a  shattered  planet.  It  is  evident  from  the  facts  just  stated  that 
such  a  planet  could  have  had  no  atmosphere.  The  supposition  how- 
ever that  it  ever  existed  is  purely  an  arbitrary  one,  as  is  also  that  of 
any  internal  force  which  could  rend  it  in  pieces.  Moreover,  from 
such  a  body  we  should  expect  fragments  varying  more  in  size  than  do 
those  which  have  thus  far  come  to  us. 

We  must  therefore  look  to  some  other  source  for  the  answer  to 
our  question.  The  preponderance  of  opinion  at  the  present  day 
seems  to  be  that  it  may  be  found  in  those  strange,  erratic  bodies,  the 
comets. 

We  know  that  these  are  worlds  without  water,  with  a  strange 
and  variable  envelope  which  takes  the  place  of  an  atmosphere,  worlds 
which  travel  repeatedly  out  into  the  cold  of  space  and  back  to  the 
sun  and  slowly  go  to  pieces  in  the  process.  Such  conditions  corres- 
pond closely  with  those  which  we  have  already  seen  probably  pre- 
vailed in  the  formation  of  meteorites. 

Still  stronger  evidence  of  the  cometic  origin  of  meteorites  is  to 
be  found  in  the  similarity  between  the  orbits  of  groups  of  meteors 
and  those  of  certain  comets.  In  1866,  Schiaparelli,  having  calculated 
the  orbit  and  motion  of  the  meteorites  which  produce  the  annual 
August  star  shower,  found  that  they  corresponded  exactly  with  those 
of  an  observed  comet.  Later  the  orbit  of  Tempel's  comet  was  found 
to  accord  with  that  of  the  meteors  of  the  November  star  shower  and 
other  parallelisms  were  noted  for  smaller  showers.  More  remark- 
able still  is  the  evidence  afforded  by  the  history  of  Biela's  comet. 
This  comet,  discovered  in  1826  by  Captain  Biela,  was  found  to  have 
a  period  of  revolution  of  6.6  years  and  to  regularly  come  into  view 


30  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

at  these  intervals.  It  had  previously  been  seen  in  1772  and  1805  and 
returned  to  the  solar  system  in  due  order  in  1832.  Being  in  an  un- 
favorable position  in  1839  it  could  not  be  seen,  but  at  the  time  of  its 
next  appearance  in  1846  it  was  found  to  have  separated  into  two  por- 
tions, which  kept  drifting-  farther  apart  during  the  time  in  which  the 
comet  remained  visible.  At  its  next  appearance  in  1852,  the  frag- 
ments were  seen  to  be  smaller  and  still  more  widely  separated.  In 
accordance  with  its  times  of  revolution  the  comet  should  have  reap- 
peared in  1859,  1866,  1872,  1879  and  1885,  but  though  carefully 
looked  for,  ,it  has  never  been  seen  again. 

On  November  27,  1872,  however,  occured  a  meteoric  shower 
extraordinary  for  the  number  and  brilliancy  of  the  meteors  which 
flashed  through  the  air.  The  orbit  of  these  proved  to  be  exactly  that 
of  Biela's  comet.  On  the  same  date  in  1885  occurred  another  remark- 
able shower  of  meteors,  having  the  same  orbit  and  radiant  point  as 
those  of  1872.  During  this  shower  an  iron  meteorite  weighing  about 
8  pounds  fell  at  Mazapil  in  Mexico.  The  manifest  conclusion,  there- 
fore, is  that  sometime  between  the  years  1852  and  1872,  Biela's  comet 
was  shattered  in  pieces  and  some  of  these  meteors  were  the  resulting 
fragments.  These  fragments  being  small,  were  mostly  burned  up 
in  their  passage  through  the  upper  part  of  the  earth's  atmosphere, 
but  had  they  been  larger,  numbers  of  meteorites  would  probably 
have  fallen  to  the  earth. 

The  fact,  however,  that  so  few  meteorites  have  fallen  to  the  earth 
during  the  star  showers  has  been  urged  by  some  authorities  as  proof 
that  the  meteors  producing  stones  are  of  a  different  nature  from  those 
which  we  see  only  as  shooting  stars.  Since  however,  every  grada- 
tion may  be  traced  from  one  to  the  other  and  astronomically  they  are 
all  alike,  there  is  little  reason,  in  the  view  of  many  authorities,  to 
doubt  their  similarity. 

Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that  though  upon 
the  earth's  surface  iron  is  rarely  found  uncombined,  there  are  masses 
found  in  the  basalt  of  Greenland  which  are  altogether  metallic  and 
which  in  composition  and  structure  closely  resemble  the  meteoric 
irons.  Though  other  views  as  to  their  origin  have  been  advanced, 
many  facts  point  to  the  conclusion  that  these  iron  masses  have  been 
brought  up  with  the  basalt  and  therefore  indicate  the  existence  of 
metal  of  this  character  in  the  deep  interior  of  the  earth.  It  has  long 
been  known  that  the  matter  constituting  the  interior  of  the  earth 
must  be  more  dense  than  that  of  the  rocks  which  form  its  crust,  since 
the  specific  gravity  of  the  earth  as  a  whole  is  5.5,  while  that  of  the 
rocks  of  the  crust  is  not  more  than  2.7.      Professor  Dana  has  shown 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue.  31 

that  if  the  interior  were  iron  up  to  within  500  miles  of  the  surface  it 
would  give  to  the  earth  its  present  density,  and  the  outflow  of  iron 
at  Greenland  makes  such  a  constitution  seem  very  probable. 

Since  this  material,  too,  so  closely  resembles  the  meteoric  irons 
in  constitution,  and  since  basalts  and  peridotic  rocks  are  found  upon 
the  earth  which  are  analogous  in  constitution  to  many  of  the  aerolites, 
it  further  seems  probable,  as  pointed  out  by  Daubr£e,  that  the  dif- 
ferent meteorites  represent  in  epitome  the  structure  and  constitution 
of  the  earth  as  a  whole  and  that  study  of  these  is  equivalent  to  pene- 
trating by  a  side  glance  into  the  inaccessible  depths  of  our  own  sphere. 

Certainly,  so  far  as  present  investigations  have  gone,  a  wonder- 
ful similarity  in  the  constitution  of  the  bodies  of  the  universe  is  indi- 
cated, which  may  well  lead  to  the  belief  that  all  knowledge  gained 
regarding  extra-terrestrial  bodies  but  increases  our  sources  of  inform- 
ation concerning  the  history  and  structure  of  the  earth  itself. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


For  information  in  greater  detail  in  regard  to  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  the  foregoing  pages,  the  reader  will  find  the  following 
works  useful. 

For  lists  of  meteorites  with  localities  and  dates,  see : 
Catalogue  of  All  Recorded  Meteorites,   with  a  Description  of  the  Speci- 
mens  in   th"   Harvard    College    Collection.     O.   W.     Huntington. 
Reprinted  from  Proc.  Am.  Acad,  of  Arts  and  Sci.,  1887. 
Die   Meteoriten   in     Sammlungen,  ihre    Geschichte,    mitieralogische    und 

chemische  Beschaffenheit.     Otto  Buchner,  Leipzig,  1863. 
Die  Meteoritcnsammlung  des  k.  k.  mineralogischen  Hofkabinetcs  in  Wien, 

am  1  Mai,  1885.     Aristides  Brezina,  Vienna,  1885. 
An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Meteorites,  with  a  List  of  the  Meteorites 
Represented  in  the  Collection  of  the  British  Museum.      L.  Fletcher, 
London,  1890. 
Guide  dans  la  Collection  de  Me'tiorites  du  Museum  d'Hisloire  Naturelle. 

Paris.      Paris,  1889. 
The  Meteorite  Collection  in  the  U.  S.  National  Museum.    F.  W.  Clarke. 

From  the  Report  of  the  vSmithsonian  Institution,  1885-86. 
Catalogue  of  the    Collection  of  Meteorites    in  the   Peabody  Museum  of 
Yale  College.     E.  S.  Dana.     American  Journal  of  Science,  Ap- 
pendix to  Vol.  32,  1886. 


32  Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 

On  the  classification  of  meteorites, and  the  subject  in  general, see: 

Beschreibung  und  Eintheiluug  der  Meteoriten,  &*c.  G.  Rose.  Abhand- 
lungen  Ak.,  Berlin,  Vol.  23,  1863. 

Mitioritcs.     S.  Meunier,  Paris,  1884. 

Lithological  Studies.  M.  E.  Wadsworth,  Mem.  Mus.  Zool.,  Cam- 
bridge, 1884. 

Die  mikroskopische  Bes chaff enheit  der  Meteoriten.  G.  Tschermak, 
Stuttgart,  1883-85. 

Meteoritenkunde.     E.  Cohen,  Stuttgart,  1894. 

On  the  chemical  constitution  of  meteorites  and  their  relations  to 
terrestrial  rocks,  see : 

Handbuch  der  Mineralchemie,  pp.  901,  952.'  C.  Rammelsberg,  Berlin, 
i860. 

Die  chemische  Natur  der  Meteoriten.  Same  author.  Abh.  Ak.,  Ber- 
lin, 15,  1870  and  1,  1879. 

Etudes  Synthdtiqnes  de  Geologic  Experimental e.    A.  Daubree,  Paris,  1879. 

Cours  de  Ge'ologie  Compare'e.     S.  Meunier,  Paris,  1874. 

Original  Researches  in  Mineralogy  and  Chemistry  by  J.  Lawrence  Smith. 
Edited  by  J.  B.  Marvin,  Louisville,  Ky.,  1884. 

Article  on  "Iron,"  System  of  Mineralogy.     E.  S.  Dana,  New  York,  1893. 

For  the  astronomical  relations  of  meteorites,  their  spectra,  origin, 
etc.,  see  papers  by  J.  Norman  Lockyer  in  Nature  1888,  vol.  37,  pp. 
55,  80;  by  H.  A.  Newton  in  Nature,  1879,  vol.  19,  p.  315,  Proc.  Am. 
Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.Vol.  35.  1886,  Am.  Jour,  of  Sci.,  Feb.  and  June  1886, 
and  July  1888;  and  by  R.  S.  Ball,  Nature  1879,  vol.  19,  p.  493. 

Descriptions  of  most  American  meteorites  published  soon  after 
their  fall  or  find  are  contained  in  the  volumes  of  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Science. 


CATALOGUE  OF  THE  COLLECTION. 


M 


EXPLANATORY. 


The  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  this  Catalogue . 
W.  f.,  Widmanstatten  figures. 

W.,  Purchased  of  Ward's  Natural  Science  Establishment. 

K.,  Purchased  of  Geo.  F.  Kunz. 

*  Specimens  available  for  exchange. 

Cat.  No.,     Numbers  under  this  heading  refer  to  those  marked  upon 
Museum  labels. 


CATALOGUE  OF  THE  COLLECTION. 


AEROS1DERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find, 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  gramsf 


11 

12 


13 

11 
15 


16 

17 

•J() 
81 

2'2 

29 


Fell  1400  ? 
Recognized 
1811. 

Found  1780. 


Found  1784. 


Found  1784. 


Elbogen,  Bohemia. 

Etched  fragment  showing  W.  f. 


(W.) 


Descubrldora,  Catorce,     San     Luis    Potosi, 
Mexico. 
Polished  and  etched  slab.     W.  f.  in  long  parallel 
bands  crossed  at  intervals  by  others  nearly  at 
right  angles.  (W.) 

Bembdego,  Bahia,  Brazil. 

Scalings  from  crust,  showing  magnetite.  (W.) 

*Irregular  fragment,  one  surface  polished  Octa- 
hedral cleavage  well  exhibited.  (W.) 

Large  slab  showing  natural  and  etched  surfaces. 
The  etched  surface  exhibits  a  coarsely  crystal- 
line structure  with  imperfect  W.  f. 

Etched  slab  showing  imperfect  W.  f. ,  elongated 
nodules  of  troilite  and  a  group  of  schreibersite 
inclusions.  (W.) 

Xiquipilco,  Toluca,  Mexico. 

♦Complete  individual.      Form  spheroidal.        (W. ) 
♦Complete  individual.   Irregular  form.   Octahedral 

cleavage  well  exhibited.  (W.) 

♦Complete  individual.     Spheroidal  form.     Surface 

apparently  water-worn.  (W.) 

Complete    individual.        Apparently    water-worn 

surface.  (W.) 

♦Complete  individual.     Spheroidal  form.         (W. ) 
Spheroidal  individual  with  oneetched  face  showing 

the    typical,    coarse    W.    f.    and    nodules    of 

troilite.  (W.) 

Complete  individual   showing   distinct  octahedral 

cleavage.  (W. ) 

♦Polished  slab.  (W.) 

Crescent  shaped    mass   with    surface    20x40  cm. 

etched.     Shows  coarse  W.  f.  and   nodules   of 

troilite  of  various  shapes  and  sizes.  (W.) 

Similar  to  above  specimen  but  smaller.  (W. ) 

Broken  fragment  showing  well  developed  cleavage 

planes.  (W.) 

♦Complete  individual.  (W.) 

Complete   individual,    spheroidal.      Surface    very 

smooth.  (W. ) 

Complete  individual,    hemispheroidal.      Cleavage 

planes  well  marked.  (W. ) 

Complete  individual.      Hemispheroidal.     Shallow 

pits  appear  on  the  surface,  (W.) 


2.5 


35 


32 

1,132 

855 

464.5 

99.5 

263.5 

251 
227 

816 

112.5 
225.5 

16,665 
6,160 

1.997 
1.880 

1,107 

28,038 

46.040 


+  i  gram  equals  i$%  grains  ;  1000  grams  equal  3.205  pounds. 
35 


3<5 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat. 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Found  1784. 

Xiquipilco,  Toluca,  Mexico. 

24 

Complete  individual,  spheroidal.     Surface  smooth 

and  pitted.                                                      (W.) 

18,025 

25 

Thin  slab,  etched.  The  W.  f .  are  very  distinct  and 
regular.     Nodules  of  troilite  of  various  shapes 

are  included.     See  Plate  I,  Fig.  1.             (W.) 

1,900 

26 

Like  previous  specimen,  but  W.  f.  less  distinct. 

(W.) 

2,423 

27 

Complete  individual,  crescentic  in    form.     Shows 
strong  tendency  to  scaling  and  decomposition. 
Drops  of  lawrencite  appear   on  the   surface. 

(W.) 

19,954 

370 

*Section  of  flattened  individual  with  etched  surface. 
The  latter  shows  coarse,  well  marked  W.  f.  and 
several  irregular  nodules  of  troilite.     Natural 

surface  deeply  pitted.                                    (W.) 

4,535 

371 

*Full-sized  slab,   etched.     Shows   the  usual   W.  f. 

and  coarse,  vein-like  masses  of  troilite.    (W.) 

792 

372 

*Complete  individual  showing  pittings  and  natural 

surface.     Form  pyramidal.                        (W.) 

2,506 

Found  1784. 

Ixtlhuaca,  Toluca,  Mexico. 

18 

Complete  indiviaual.     Surface  pitted  and  covered 

with  crust.                                                          (K.) 

3.000 

19 

Scalings  from  previous  specimen.                       (K.) 

00 

Found  1792. 

Zacatecas,  Mexico. 

28 

Thin  fragment,  etched.     No   W  f.                  (W.) 

5.7 

Found  1793. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Africa. 

29 

Polished  slab  of  brilliant  nickel-white  color.  (W. ) 

27 

Found  1802. 

Albacher  niihle,  Bitburg,  Rhenish  Prussia. 

30 

Polished   slab      Shows   large   pores  and   slag-like 

surface,  due  to  its  having  been  passed  through 

a  furnace                                                        (W.) 

70 

31 

*Fragment,  three  sides  polished.     The  natural  sur- 

face appears  to  be  altering  to  limonite.   (W.) 

72 

32 

Known  1804. 

Misteca,  Oaxaca,  Mexico. 

Porous   slab,  etched.      W.    f.    quite    distinct. 

(W.) 

86 

Known  1804. 

Charcas,  San  Luis  Potosi,  Mexico. 

33 

Thin  slab,  etched.     Well  marked  W.  f.           (W.) 

62 

Found  1808. 

Cross  Timbers,  Red  River,  Texas. 

34 

Chiseled  fragment,  one    end    etched.     W.  f.    well 

brought  out.                                                   (W.) 

55 

Found  1814. 

Lenarto,  Saros,    Hungary. 

35 

Square  slab  showing  crust   on   one  side   and   one 

etched  surface.     No  W.  f.                          (W.) 

47 

Found  before 

1819. 

Burlington,  Otsego  Co.,  New  York. 

36 

Triangular  slab,  etched  on  one  surface.     Very  del- 

icate W.  f.                                                     (W.) 

32 

Meteorite  Collection — Handbook,  and  Catalogue. 


37 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat 

No 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Known  1827. 

Sancha  Estate,  Santa  Rosa,    Coahuila,    Mex- 

37 

ico. 

Thin,  polished  slab,  a  portion  etched,  but  no  W.f. 

brought  out.                                                  (W.) 

70 

90 

Turnings.                                                                (K. ) 

10 

Found  1832. 

Walker  County,   Alabama 

38 

Thin,  polished  slab.     The  etched  surface  bears  in- 
tersecting short  straight  lines  similar  to  those 
regarded  by  Brezina  in  the    Hex  River  Moun- 

tains iron,  as  plates  of  troilite.                   (W. t 

25.5 

39 

Fell  Aug.  1, 

Worked  mass.                                                       ( W . ) 

128 

1835. 

Charlotte,  Dickson  Co.,  Tennessee. 

40 

Thin  slab,    one   surface   etched.     Typical   W-    f 

(W.) 

7 

Known  1836. 

Wichita  County,   Texas. 

41 

Full-sized  slab,  etched.     Shows  coarse  W.f.,  nod- 
ules of  troilite  and  scattered  flakes  of   schrei- 

bersite.                                                            (W.) 

1,396 

Found  1837. 

Butcher   Irons,    Desert   of   Mapimi,  Coahuila, 
Mexico. 

42 

Large,    thin   slab,  a   portion   etched.     The   latter 
shows  a  stippled  surface  intersected  by  num- 
erous short,  straight  lines,  probably  of  troilite, 

also  nodules  of  same.                                  (W.) 

2.140 

43 

Large    segment    showing    natural,    polished    and 
etched  surfaces.    Natural  surface  very  smooth. 
Etched    surface    like  that  of  previous   speci- 

men.                                                               (W.) 

3,402 

Found  1839. 

Putnam  County,  Georgia. 

44 

Cleavage  pieces  showing   octahedral    form,  separ- 
ated by  thin  plates  of  taenite.                     (K  ) 

Found  1840. 

Magura,  Arva,  Hungary. 

4o 

Etched  slab  showing  delicate  but  very  distinct  W.f. 

The  plates  intersect  at  angles  of    109°.    (W  ) 

G 

40 

♦Irregular   fragment.    Cleavage   structure   promi- 

nent.                                                              (W  ) 

137 

47 

Fragment   showing   natural    and   etched   surface. 

No  W.  f.                                                          (W.) 

166.5 

Described 

1840. 

Cosby 's  Creek,  Cocke  Co.,  Tennessee. 

48 

♦Several  irregular  fragments,  all   showing  octahe- 

dral cleavage.                                                 (W.) 

40 

49 

Irregular  fragment,  cleavage  structure  prominent. 

The  tin-white  plates  are  taenite.                  (W.) 

42.5 

Found  1840. 

Carey  fort,  De  Kalb   Co.,  Ten  n  esse  e. 

50 

Thin  slab,  one  surface  etched  but  showing  no  W.  f. 
Troilite  nodules   and  flakes  of    schreibersite 

appear  on  the  etched  portion.                     (W.) 

55 

3« 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i, 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat. 

No. 

Date 

of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams 

Found  1840. 

Coney  Fork,  Carthage,  Smith  Co.,  Tennessee. 

51 

Rectangular  slab,  polished.                                (W.) 

50 

52 

Thick  slab  showing   natural,    polished  and  etched 
surfaces.    Coarse  W.  f.  are  dimly  outlined  on 
the  latter.     The  lines  of  taenite   are  very  del- 

icate.                                                               (W. ) 

78 

Found  1845. 

Sevier    County,      Tennessee      (Identical  with 
Cocke  Co.) 

53 

*Five  fragments  of  about  20  grams    each,  cleaving 
in  octahedrons,  which  are  separated  by  bright 

plates  of  taenite.                                           (W. ) 

114 

Fell  1846. 

Deep  Springs  Farm,  Rockingham  Co.,   North 
Carolina. 

87 

Thfn   slice   showing   sawed  and   etched  surfaces. 

No  W.  f.                                                     (W.) 

7 

Fell  1817. 

Braunau,  Hauptmannsdorf,  Bohemia. 

55 

July  14, 
3:45  A.  M. 

Sawed   block   showing   natural    surface   with  pits. 

The  lustre  of  the  natural  surface  is  like  that  of 

blued  steel.                                                      (K.) 

47 

54 

*Block  showing  polished  and  torn  surface.      (W. ) 

8.5 

Found  1847. 

Chesterville,  Chester  Co.,  SouthCarolina- 

50 

Thin  slab,  etched.     The  etching   brings  out  a  net- 
work   of   irregular  lines   on   the   surface   but 

shows  no  W.  f.                                             (W. ) 

6 

Found  1847. 

Seelasgen,  Brandenburg,  Prussia. 

57 

Chiseled  fragment.    No  cleavage  structure  visible. 

(W.) 

41.5 

375 

Etched  slab,  containing   large   nodule  of   troilite. 
The  iron  is  seen  to  be  made  up  of   large   irregular 

plates  but  no  W.  f.  appear.                        (W.) 

12.5 

Found  1847. 

riurfreesboro,  Rutherford  Co.,  Tennessee. 

58 

Etched   slab   showing  distinct  W.  f.,  the  plates  of 

which  run  principally  at  right  angles.      (W.) 

20.5 

Found  1850. 

Seneca  Falls,  Seneca  River,  New  York. 

60 

Sawed  section  showing    natural   surface  and  frac- 
ture.    Octahedral  cleavage  very  distinct.   One 
surface    partially   etched,  bears   an  initial   of 
the  name  of  the  first   owner,  Mr.    L.  C.  Part- 

ridge.     Loaned  by  G.  Murray  Guion. 

300 

Known  1853. 

Lion  River,  Great  Namaqualand,  South  Africa. 

61 

Sawed  slab,    one   surface   polished.                   (K.) 

49.5 

62 

Etched  slab,  with  crust.      Beautiful  W.  f.  are  dis- 
played, the  plates  being  narrow  and  very  dis- 

tinct.    See  Plate  III,  Fig.  2.                       (W.) 

62.5 

376 

*Like  No.  62,  but  W.  f.  less  distinct.                (W.) 

44 

Found  1853. 

Union   County,  Georgia. 

63 

Cleavage  fragments  with   surface  considerably  ox- 

idized.                                                            (W.) 

1.5 

Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


39 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat 

No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams 

Found  1853. 

Knox vi lie,   Tazewell  Co.,  Tennessee. 

G4 

Slab  showing  natural  and  polished  surface.    (W.) 

17 

Found  1854. 

Madoc,  Hastings  Co,,  Ontario,  Canada. 

83 

Spheroidal  fragment  showing  natural  surface  with 

pittings.                                                          (W. ) 

0 

GO 

Thin,  sawed  slab  with  natural  surface.             (K.) 

5 

Found  1854. 

Emmitsburg,  Frederick  Co.,  Maryland. 

67 

Etched   slab   with   natural    surface.      W.  f.    well 

brought  cut.                                                     (W.) 

'28.5 

Found  1854. 

Cranbourne,    Melbourne,    Victoria,    Australia. 

08 

Irregular  fragment  much  decomposed.     A  portion 
altered  to  limonits.      Silvery  plates  of  taenite 

are  numerous  through  the  mass.               (W.) 

31.2 

09 

Cleaved  fragment,  octahedral  structure  prominent. 

(W.) 

4.5 

Found  1854.  . 

Yarra  Yarra  River,  Victoria,  Australia.  (Prob- 
ably identical  with  Cranbourne.) 

70 

Thin  slab   showing   natural  and   etched    surface. 
Crystalline    structure    is    indicated     on     the 
etched  surface,  but  no  distinct  W.f.  are  shown. 

(W.) 

15 

Known  1856. 

Orange  River,  Garib,   South  Africa.. 

71 

Sawed  section  with   natural   surface,    smooth  and 

deeply  pitted.                                                  (K.) 

114 

~o 

Etched  slab  showing  typical  W.   f.   and   nodule  of 

troilite.                                                               (W.) 

95  5 

Found  1856. 

Nelson  County,  Kentucky. 

73 

Apparently  a  large    scaling  slightly  oxidized. 

(W.) 

23 

Known  1856. 

Denton  County,  Texas. 

74 

Thin,  sawed  fragment.     Along  an  old  fracture  are 
numerous  parallel  grooves   which  are  probably 

lines   of  decomposition.                                   (W.) 

3 

Found  1857. 

Laurens  County,  SouthCarolina. 

76 

Thin  slab,  etched,    showing  beautiful  W.  f.      The 
delicate  bands,  silvery  white  in  color,  and  inter- 
secting in  equilateral  triangles,  stand  out  in  sharp 
contrast  to  the  dull  gray  of  the  ground  mass.   See 

Plate  III,  Fig   1.                                                (W.) 

13 

Found  1858. 

Staunton,  Augusta  Co.,  Virginia. 

78 

Full-sized  slab,  polished  and  etched.     S  hows  typ- 

ical W.  f.  and  large  nodule  of  troilite          (W.) 

1,599 

79 

Slab  with  crust,  etched.  The  crystalline  plates  have 
an  ovoid  form   and  intersect   very    irregularly. 

(W.) 

665 

80 

*Slab  with  crust,  polished  and  etched  on  two  sur- 

L_ 

faces.     Beautiful,  broad  and  distinct  W.  f.(W.) 

100.5 

40 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams 

Found  1858. 

Trenton,  Washington  Co.,  Wisconsin. 

81 

Thin  slab,  etched,  showing  typical  W.  f.,  the  plates 

of  which  intersect  at  angles  of  35°.                 (W.) 

137 

82 

*Specimen  similar  to  foregoing,  but  smaller.  (W. ) 

46 

Known  1860. 

Coopertown,  Robertson  Co.,  Tennessee. 

83 

Thin  slab,  etched.  The  W.  f.  are  made  up  of  broad 

plates,  5mm.  in  thickness.                              (W.) 

82.5 

Found  1860. 

Lagrange,  Oldham  Co.,  Kentucky. 

81 

Sawed  section  with  crust  and  etched  surface.  W.f. 

only  slightly  indicated.                                      (W. ) 

47 

Recognized 

1866. 

Smith's  flountain,   Rockingham  Co.,  North 
Carolina. 

85 

Thin  slab  with  crust,  etched.     Well  marked  W.  f. 

Some  of  the  bands  are  of  oval  shape.           (W.) 

17 

86 

*Similar  to  previous  specimen.                            (W.) 

13 

Found  1866. 

Bear  Creek,  Denver  Co.,  Colorado. 

88 

Fragment  showing  crust,  Octahedral  cleavage  well 

displayed.                                                              (W. ) 

43.5 

89 

Thin  slab,  etched.     Well  marked  W.  f. ,  the  plates 

of  taenite  being  very  distinct.                        (W. ) 

27 

Found  1866. 

Juncal,  Pay  po  te,  Chile. 

140 

Thin  slab  with  crust,  etched.  Shows  well  marked  W. 

f.,  the  plates  of  taenite  being  very  distinct. (W.) 

60 

Found  1867. 

Allen  County,  (near  S:ottsville)   Kentucky. 

91 

Full-sized  slab,  etched.   Contains  a  circular  nodule 
of  troilite.    The  etched  surface  has  the   appear- 
ance  of    a  network  of   delicate,   straight     lines 

overlaying  a  granular  base.                               (W.) 

364 

Found  1867, 

Auburn,  Macon  Co.,  Alabama. 

92 

Sawed  fragment  showing  crust  on  all  surfaces    but 

one.                                                                         (W  ) 

5 

Found  1873. 

Chulafinnee,  Cleburne  Co.,  Alabama. 

94 

Thin  slab,    etched.     Broad  W.  f,  are   dimly   out- 

lined.                                                                  (W.) 

29 

Found  1874. 

Butler,  Bates  Co.,  Missouri. 

95 

Etched  slab.     W.  f   very  distinct.     The  plates   of 
the  latter  seen  with  a    lens  appear  to   be   made 
up  of  a  number  of  smaller   ones,  which   anasto- 
mose.   There  are  also  comb-like  markings,  made 

up  of  innumerable  fine  lines.                            (K.) 

75.5 

96 

Same  as  previous  specimen  but  containing  nodule 

of  troilite.                                                          (W.) 

71.5 

Known  1875. 

Santa  Catarina,  Rio  San  Francisco  do  Sul,  Brazil. 

97 

*Spheroidal  mass,  having  the  well  known  limonite 
yellow  color  of  the  Santa  Catarina  irons.     More 

or  less  honey-combed  by  decay.                    (W.) 

217 

Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


41 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 

Cat. 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
ingrains 

Known  1875. 

Santa  Catarina,  Rio  San  Francisco  doSul,  Brazil, 

99 

Similar  to  previous  specimen,  except  that  one  sur- 
face is  polished,    showing   a  compact,    metallic 

interior.                                                              (W. ) 

921 

100 

Similar  to  No.  97.                                                   (W.) 

2,579 

103 

Similar  to  No.  9/.                '                                   (W.) 

4,252 

98 

Mass  only  slightly  altered,  of  iron  black  color  and 

metallic  lustre.                                                      (K.) 

261 

101 

*A  number  of  fragments  of   various  sizes,  appar- 
ently   altered    to    limonite,    but,    according    to 

Derby,    portions  of  a  porphyritic   crust.    (K.) 

1,814 

102 

♦Similar  to  No.  97.                                                (K.) 

766 

104 

(K.) 

3.344 

105 

(K.) 

10,884 

100 

(K.) 

11,576 

107 

*       (K.) 

3,174 

108 

•       (K.) 

1,577 

Found  1876. 

Cleveland,  Green  Co.,  Tennessee. 

109 

Polished  slab,  etched.     No  W.  f.  brought   out   by 

etching.                                                                (K. ) 

100 

Found  1877. 

Dalton,  Whitfield  Co.,  Georgia. 

110 

Thin,  etched  slab  showing  coarse,   typical   W.  f. 

and  crust.                                                              lW.) 

81 

Found  1880. 

Lexington  County,  South  Carolina. 

111 

Thin   slab,  etched.     Etching   divides   the  surface 
into  irregular  grains,  but  no  regular  structure   is 

visible.                                                                   (W.) 

23.5 

Found  18S0. 

Ivanpah,  San  Bernardino  Co.,  California. 

112 

Chiseled  fragment.    No  evidence  of  cleavage. (W.) 

3 

Found  1882. 

riaverick  County,  (Fort  Duncan)  Texas. 

113 

Thin  slab  with  reddish  crust,  etched.  The  etched  sur- 
face has  a  stippled  appearance,  and  shows  a  net- 
work of  short,  straight  lines,  probably  represejt- 
ing  plates  of  troilite.    Small  grains  of  troilite  are 

also  present.                                                       (W. ) 

104 

Found  1882. 

Jenny's  Creek,  Wayne  Co.,  West  Virginia- 

114 

♦Three  chiseled  fragments  showing  cleavage  octa- 

hedrons, separated  by  bright  plates  of  taenite.(K  ) 

16.5 

Found  1882. 

Hex  River  Mountains,  Cape  Colony,  So.  Africa. 

115 

Sawed  slab,  one  surface   etched.     Neumann  lines 
are    partially    discernible,  but  more   prominent 
are  the  parallel  systems  of  troilite  plates  descri- 
bed by  Brezina.     These  are  beautifully  shown  in 

this  specimen.                                                      (W. ) 

448 

Found  1883 

Grand  Rapids,  Michigan. 

116 

Full-sized  slab,  polished  and  etched.     Shows  very 
distinct  and  striking  W.  f  made  up  of  thin  plates 

packed  together  in  bundles.                            (W.) 

1.160  5 

42 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i, 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


117 
118 

119 
120 
121 

122 
123 

124 

125 

877 

12G 
127 
128 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


Found  1883. 


Found  1881. 


Found  1884, 


Found  1881. 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Found  1884. 


Found  1885. 


Found  1885. 


Described 
1885. 


Described 
1886. 


Grand  Rapids,  Michigan. 

Full-sized,  thick  section,  polished  and  showing  \V. 
f.  like  previous  specimen.  (W.) 

Youndegin,  Western  Australia. 

Full-sized,  elongated  slab,  showing  pittings,  crust, 
polished  and  etched  surface.  The  W.  f.  are  very 
coarse,  many  of  the  plates  being  1.5-2  cm.  in 
thickness.  They  are  also  crossed  by  a  series  of 
finer  lines  nearly  at  right  angles.  Troilite  and 
schreibersite  are  present.  (W.) 

^Polished  fragment  with  crust.  (W  ) 

Joe    Wright    Hountain,    Independence    Co., 

Arkansas. 
Thin  slab,  etched,  showing  nodules  of  troilite  and 
typical  W.  f.    The  arrangement  of  plates  about 
one  of  the  troilite  nodules  suggests  a  spherulite. 

(W.) 
Etched  slab,  showing  markings  like  previous  speci- 
men except  that  the  troilite  occurs  in  interlock- 
ing veins.  (K.) 

Glorieta  Mountain,  Santa  Fe  Co.,N  e  w  Mexico. 

Thin    lab  with  crust,  polished   and   etched.     The 

well  known  W.f.  of  this  iron  are  fully  displayed. 

(W.) 
Square  slab,  etched,  showing  both  coarse  and  fine 
W.  f.  (K.) 

Hammond,  St.  Croix  Co.,  Wisconsin. 

Thin  slab,  showing  one  etched  and  one  polished 
surface.  The  W.  f.  have  a  peculiar,  shagree- 
ned  appearence,  due  to  their  grouping  in  smaller 
and  larger  squares  and  to  scattered  flakes  of 
schreibersite.  (W  ) 

Like  previous  specimen  except  that  the  W.  f.  are 
more  distinct  and  the  crust  attains  in  some 
places  a  thickness  of  1  mm.  (W. ) 

Puquios,  Chile. 

Full-sized  slab,  etched.  Irregular  W.  f.  are  dimly 
brought  out  by  the  etching,  also  flakes  of  schrei- 
bersite. ( W. ) 

Stutsman  County,  NorthDakota. 

Thin  fragment,  one  surface  etched.  W.  f.  are  but 
dimly  outlined.  Many  of  the  plates  appear  bent. 

(W.) 
The  Lea  Iron,  Tennessee. 

Large  thin  slab,  showing  crust,  polished  and  etched 
surfaces.     Typical  W.  f,  (W.) 

Thunda,  Windorah,  Queensland,  Australia. 
Sawed  slab,  one   surface   etched.     W.    f.    distinct 
and  regular.  (W.) 


Weight 
in  grams. 


7,881 


1,087 
20.5 


98.5 
33 

1,271 
152 


35 
20 

154 


234 


154 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


43 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 


Cat 
No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


We  Split 
ingrains 


125) 
130 

154 

378 

181 


Found  18S7. 
Found  1887. 

Found  1887. 
Found  1888. 


132 

133 
134 

189 

13G 
137 

138 

139 


Found  1888. 


Found  18S9. 


Found  1889. 
Found  1890. 

Found  1890. 
Found  1890. 


Chattooga  County,  (Holland  Store)  Georgia. 
Thin  fragment  with  crust.     Polished  surface. (W.) 

Silver  Crown,  Laramie  Co.,  Wyoming. 

Etched  slab  with  crust.  Structure  coarsely  crys- 
talline, with  a  few  rectilinear  figures.  Lines  of 
taenite  very  distinct.  (W. ) 

Floyd  County  .(Indian  Valley  Township,)Vi  r  g  i  n  i  a. 

Nearly  complete  individual,  with  natural  surface. 
Crust  yellowish-brown.  Pittings  broad  and  shal- 
low. (K.) 

Scalings  from  previous  specimen,  also  highly  pol- 
ished fragment.  (K.) 

Hamilton  County,  Texas. 

Full-sized,  thin  slab,  showing  polished  and  etched 
surfaces  The  W.  f.  appear  as  beautifully  dis- 
tinct and  delicate  lines  running  parallel  in  two 
directions  throughout  the  mass.  Troilite  is  dis- 
tributed in  radiating  veins.  See  Plate  I,  Fig  2, 
and  Plate  II.  (W.) 

Welland,  Ontario,  Canada. 

Segment,  showing  etched  and  natural  surfaces. 
W.  f.  distinct  and  regular.  Scattered  grains  of 
troilite  are  present.  A  marked  tendency  to  octa- 
hedral cleavage  is  apparent.  (W.) 

K.-nton  County,  Kentucky. 

About  one-third  of  the  original  mass,  showing 
crust  and  polished  surface.  Contains  nodules  of 
troilite.  (W.) 

Full-sized  slab,  etched.  W.  f.  very  distinct  and 
regular.  Shows  marked  cleavage  and  tendency 
to  separate  along  the  cleavage  planes.  Very  per- 
fect octahedrons  can  be  cleaved  out  from  the 
mass.  (W. ) 

*Full-sized  slab.     Both  sides  polished.  (W.) 

Henry  County,  Virginia. 
Cleavage  pieces,  (octahedral)  much  oxidized.  (K. ) 

Bridgewater,  Burke  Co.,  North  Carolina. 
Thin  slab  with  natural  and  etched  surfaces.      Ex- 
hibits well  marked  W.  f.  (W. ) 

Kendall  County,  Texas. 

Thin  slab  with  natural,  sawed  and  etched  surfaces. 

The  etched  surface  exhibits  a  coarsely  granular 

structure, crossed  by  a  network  of  delicate.straight 

lines.       Shows    numerous    nodules    of    troilite. 

(W.) 
Nagy-Vazsony,  Hungary. 

Thin  slab  showing  natural,  etched  and  polished 
surfaces.     Typical  W.  f.  (W.) 


28 


71 


13,142 


3,400 


715.5 


30.  GOO 


9,312 
12,231 


19 

118 
37 


44 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROSIDERITES  OR  IRON  METEORITES. 


Cat. 
No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams. 


153 

141 

142 
143 

144 


145 
140 


147 
148 

149 
150 
151 
152 
373 

430 


Described 
1890. 


Found  1891. 


Found  1893. 


Ellenboro,  Rutherford  Co.,  North  Carolina. 
Spheroidal  mass  showing  natural  and  etched   sur- 
faces and  fracture.     The  latter  shows  the   iron 
to  be  highly  crystalline,  and  to  possess  octahe- 
dral cleavage.  (W.) 

Canon  Diablo,  Arizona. 

*Three  complete  individuals  apparently  scaled  off 
from  a  larger  mass.  All  show  the  smooth  sur- 
face and  characteristic  pits  of  this  iron.       (W.) 

*Complete  individual,  ovoid  in  form.  Crust  and 
pits  like  No.  141.  (W.) 

Complete  individual,  weight,  1013  pounds.  (See 
PI.  Ill,  Fig.  3.)  Besides  the  shallow  pits  shown 
in  the  figure  the  mass  is  indented  by  deeper  cyl- 
indrical ones,  three  to  four  cm.  in  depth.     (W. ) 

Full-sized  slab  with  polished  and  etched  surfaces. 
The  W.  f.  are  very  coarse,  arranged  in  approx- 
imately parallel  bands.  Large  nodules  of 
troilite  and  flakes  of  schreibersite  are  scattered 
through  the  mass.  (W.) 

*Small,  complete  individual,  like  No.  141.       (W. ) 

Complete  individual  weighing  265  pounds.  (See  PI. 
Ill,  Fig.  3.)  The  chain  by  which  it  is  suspended 
passes  through  a  natural  perforation  about  3  cm. 
in  its  smallest  diameter.  (W. ) 

*Full-sized  slab  showing  polished  and  etched  sur- 
faces like  No.  144.  (W.) 

Nearly  complete  individual  showing  deep  and  shal- 
low pits.  One  etched  surface  exhibits  nodules 
of  troilite  and  indications  of  crystalline  struc- 
ture. (W.) 

Complete  individual,  sub-cylindrical  in  form.  Ex- 
hibits the  characteristic  pittings.  (K.) 

Thick  slab,  polished,  showing  nodules   of   troilite. 

(K.) 

Hemispheroidal  mass.  One  polished  surface  shows 
troilite  nodules.  (K. ) 

*One  large  and  several  small  fragments  with  natu- 
ral surface.  (K.) 

*Complete  individual  showing  pits  and  natural  sur- 
face. Apparently  scaled  from  a  larger  mass.  (W. ) 

El  Capitan  Mts.,  New  Mexico. 

Slab  showing  crust  and  polished  surface. 

(By  exchange  with  E.  E.  Howell.) 


1,506 

814 
552 

460,304 


2,934 
165 


120,657 
4,309 

23,590 
90,898 
26,047 
24,489 
1,814 
670 

214 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


45 


AEROSIDEROLITES  OR  IRON-STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat. 

No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Found  1749. 

Medwedewa,  Krasnoyarsk,  Siberia.(   The  Pal- 
las Iron.) 

157 

Fragment  of  the  iron  matrix  with  a  little  olivine. 

(W.) 

9 

158 

Chiseled  fragment  showing  both  iron  and  olivine. 

(K.) 

12.5 

159 

♦Several  fragments,  composed  of  iron  and  olivine. 

(K.) 

76.5 

Found  about 

Imilac,  Desert  of  Atacama,  South  America. 

160 

1800. 

Fragment  of  iron  matrix,  most  of  the  stony    filling 

having  decomposed  and  dropped  out.           (W.; 

12.5 

161 

♦Like  previous  specimen.                                    (W.) 

28.5 

162 

Thick  slab,  polished   and  etched.     The   metallic 
portion  exhibits  occasional  W.  f.   Its  sponge-like 
pores  are  filled  with  olivine,  more  or  less  decom- 

posed.                                                                    (W  ) 

205 

Found  1847. 

Rittersgriin,  Erzgebirge,    Saxony. 

164 

Thin  slab,  polished.     The   stony   portion   exceeds 

the  metallic.                                                       (W.) 

33.5 

Found  1856. 

Hainholz,  Minden,  Westphalia. 

165 

Thin  chip,  showing  natural  and  polished  surface. 
The  metallic   grains  are    small,  and    scattered 
through  a  brownish  mass  of  asmanite  and  bron- 

zite.                                                                        (W.) 

10.5 

267 

♦Fragment    from    interior.      Black,    fine-grained. 

(W.) 

1.3 

75 

*Like  No.  165,  but  more  decomposed.               (K.) 

19 

Found  1857. 

fliney ,  Taney  Co.,  Missouri. 

166 

Slab  showing  natural  and  polished  surfaces.     The 
natural  surface  has  the   peculiar   glaze  charac- 

teristic of  this  meteorite.                                   (K.) 

60 

167 

Sawed  slab   showing  natural  and    polished    sur- 
faces.    The  metallic  and  non-metallic  minerals 

are  about  equally  abundant.                          (W.) 

395 

168 

♦Like  previous  specimen  except  that  the  olivine  is 
gathered  in  large   nodules   in    certain  portions. 

(W.) 

209 

77 

♦Fragment  with  natural  surface."                      (W.) 

4 

Found  1861. 

Breitenbach,  Flatten,   Bohemia. 

169 

Thin,  polished  slab.     Resembles   the  Rittersgriin 

specimens  very  closely.                                     (W.) 

1 

Found  1862. 

Sierra  de  Chaco,  Desert  of  Atacama,     South 
America. 

170 

Fragment  with  crust.      Structure     fine-granular, 
with  metallic  and   non-metallic   minerals  about 

equally  distributed.                                            (W. ) 

17.5 

171 

Similar  to  No.  170,  except  that  the  surface  appears 

glazed  and  shines  in  iridescent  colors.           (W.) 

14.5 

46 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  t, 


AEROSIDEROLITES  OR  IRON-STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat 

No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams. 


172 


175 


176 
177 


178 


180 


182 


183 


184 


183 
180 

187 
374 


Found  1874. 


Fell  1879, 
May  10. 
5  P.M. 


Found  1880. 


Found  1885. 


Found  1887. 


Mejillones,  near  Desert  of  Atacama,    South 
America. 
Thin,  polished  slab.   The  nickel-iron  is  distributed 
in  a  fine"  network  and  occasional  nodules  through 
an  amorphous  ground-mass.  (W.) 

Estherville,  Emmett  County,  Iowa. 

Four  complete  individuals,  varying  in  size  from 
that  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  walnut.  The  surface 
shows  rounded  knobs,  and  is  partly  of  the  color 
of  blued  steel  and  partly  nickel-white.  (K.) 

Irregular  fragment,  much  oxidized.  (W. ) 

Full-sized  slab,  polished.  The  iron  appears  in 
large  nodules,  irregular  flakes  and  a  long,  narrow 
vein,  distributed  through  a  greenish-black,  struc- 
tureless ground-mass.  (W.) 

^Thirteen  complete  individuals,  varying  in  size 
from  that  of  a  pea  to  that  of  a  walnut.  Surface 
like  No.  175.  (W.) 

Carroll  County,  (Eagle  Station),   Kentucky. 

Sawed  slab  showing  natural  surface  deeply  pitted, 
and  polished  surface.  The  iron  matrix  encloses 
nodules  of  olivine,  some  a  centimeter  in  diam- 
eter,  transparent,  and   of  brilliant  lustre.    (K. ) 

Grains  of  olivine,  separated  from  the  iron,  some 
coarse  and  some  in  a  powdered  state.  (K.) 

Pavlodar,  Semipalatinsk,    Asiatic    Russia. 
Polished  fragment,  made  up  principally    of  olivine 
enclosed  in  an   iron    matrix.     Also   some   loose 
grains  of  olivine.  (W.) 

Rockwood,  Cumberland  Co.,  Tennessee. 

From  Mass  No.  1 .  Thin  slab  showing  natural  and 
etched  surfaces.  The  metallic  grains  are  small  and 
about  evenly  distributed,  except  for  three  large 
nodules,  one  of  which,  having  a  diameter  of 
1.5  cm.  shows  well  marked  W.  f.  The  metallic 
portion  serves  as  a  matrix  to  hold  the  siliceous 
grains.  (W.) 

Mass  No.  2.  Complete  individual.  The  crust  is 
reddish-brown  and  cracked  in  several  places. 
No  well-marked  pits  are  seen.  (W  ) 

From  Mass  No.  3.  One-half  of  the  original  find, 
with  natural  and  polished  surface.  General  struc- 
ture like  No.  184,  but  the  specimen  shows  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  non-metallic  minerals, 
and  these  occur   occasionally   in   large   nodules. 

(W.) 

From  Mass  No.  1  (?).  Large  segment  showing  nat- 
ural and  polished  surfaces.  Structure  like  No.  186. 

(W.) 

*Segment  of  complete  individual,  showing  natural 
and  polished  surfaces.     Structure  like   No.  184. 

(W.) 


37 


2,721 

47 


106 
96 


13 


40.5 
4,351 

801 

6,151 

670 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogw  . 


47 


AEROSIDEROLITES  OR  IRON-STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


Date 

of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams 


33G 

188 
180 

190 

191 

192 
193 

194 
195 

190 

197 

198 

199 
200 


201 
202 


Found  1887. 


Found  1888. 


Found  1888. 


Found  1890. 


Powder  flill  Creek,  Crab  Orchard  Mts.,  Tenn- 
essee.    (Identical  with  Rockwood.) 

Irregular  fragment,  one  surface  polished.  Metallic 
grains  small  and  evenly  distributed.  (K. ) 

Llano  del  Inca,  Desert  of  Atacama,  So.  America. 
*Dark-brown  mass,  with  natural  and  polished  sur- 
faces.    Metallic  grains  appear  only  on  one  edge. 
Complete  individual,  intersected  by  the  cracks  so 
characteristic  of  this  meteorite.  A  few  large  grains 
of  olivine  are  enclosed  in  cavities  on  the  surface. 

(W.) 
Thick  slab,  polished  on  two  surfaces.     No  metallic 
grains  are  visible.  (W.) 

Dona  Inez,  Desert  of  Atacama,    So.    America. 

Thin  slab,  showing  natural  and  etched  surfaces. 
Tne  stony  matter,  dark-brown  in  color,  largely 
predominates.  One  nodule  of  iron  about  the 
size  of  a  pea,  shows  delicate  W.  f.  (W.) 

*Hemispheroidal  mass,  one  surface  polished.  The 
peculiar  cracked  surface  characteristic  of  these 
meteorites  is  well  exhibited.  (W.) 

Complete  individual,  described  by  Howell  as  look- 
ing like  "a  lump  of  dried,  red  mud  cracked  by 
shrinkage  and  covered  with  spots  of  green  mould 
(nickel)  in  places  "  (W. ) 

Similar  to  No.  192,  but  larger.  (W  ) 

Kiowa  County,  (Brenham  Township),  Kansas. 

One-half  of  a  complete  individual  one  surface  pol- 
ished. Composed  chiefly  of  iron,  with  olivine 
filling  the  sponge  like  pores.  (W. ) 

Thin  slab,  polished.  The  central  portion  for  a 
width  of  about  5  cm.  is  solid  metal,  but  on  either 
side  the  mass  is  porous,  the  pores  being  filled  with 
olivine.  (W.) 

Full-sized  slab,  polished,  showing  a  sponge-like 
mass  of  iron,  with  olivine  filling  the  cavities. 
See  Plate  IV,  Fig.  1.  (K.) 

Similar  to  No.  197,  but  thicker.  Some  of  the  olivine 
nodules  are  beautifully  transparent  and  highly 
refracting.  (K  ) 

*Smaller  piece,  similar  to  No.  197.  (K. ) 

4G6  pound  mass,  entire.  The  form  is  flattened, 
somewhat  heart-shaped.  The  surface  is  covered 
with  pittings,  and  considerably  oxidized.  The 
grains  of  olivine  are  readily  discernible  over  the 
surface.     See  Plate  IV,  Fig.  2.  (K.) 

♦Full-sized  slab,  showing  structure  like   No.    197. 

(K.) 
18  pound  mass,  entire.     Form,  hemispheroidal.the 
surface  covered  with  pittings.     Structure  porous, 
pores  filled  with  olivine.     See  Plate  IV,  Fig.  3. 

(K) 


80.4 
38 

54.5 

148 

48.5 
103 


741 
245 


2,061 

1,248 
2,048 

8.117 

227 

!18,847 
5,895 

8.G19 


48 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROSIDEROLITES  OR  IRON-STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


203 
204 

205 
200 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


Found  1890. 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Kiowa  County,  (Brenham  Township),  Kan  s as. 

Section  of  complete  individual,  showing  natural 
and  polished  surface.  The  structure  is  like  that 
of  No.  197.  (K.) 

345  pound  mass,  entire.  This  is  almost  wholly  iron 
of  the  Caillite  variety.  Form,  kidney  or  arch- 
shaped,  with  a  projection  extending  from  the 
concavity  of  the  arch.    See  Plate  IV,  Fig.3.(K.) 

36  pound  mass,  entire.  Spheroidal  in  form,  surface 
covered  with  pittings.  Entirely  metallic.  See 
Plate  IV,  Fig.  3.  (K.) 

40  pound  mass  entire.  Form,  cylindrical,  with 
one  projecting  point.  Surface  pitted.  Composed 
almost  wholly  of  iron,  but  occasional  grains  of 
olivine  are  visible.  See  Plate  IV,  Fig.  3.       (K.) 


Weight 
in  grams. 


8,490 

155,473 
16,091 

17,687 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue, 


49 


Aerolites  or  stone  meteorites. 


Cat. 
No. 


£07 
208 

209 

210 
211 

212 

213 

214 

815 


216 
217 


21 S 
>19 


221 

222 

224 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 


Fell  1492, 
Nov.   16. 
11:30  P.  M. 


Fell  1753. 
July  3 
8  P.  M. 

Fell  1768, 
Nov.  20, 
4  P.  M. 


Fell  1785, 
Feb.  19. 


Fell  1790, 
July  24, 
9P,  M. 


Fell  1795. 
Dec.  13, 
3:30  P.  M. 

Fell  1789. 
Dec.  13, 
8  P.  M. 


Fell  1803. 
April  26, 
1  P.  M. 


Fell  1806, 
Mar.  15, 
5  P.  M. 


Fell  1807, 
Dec.  14, 
6:30  A.  M. 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Ensisheim,  Elsass,  Germany. 

Fragment  from  interior.     Dark-gray,  fine-grained, 

smooth  and  shining  in  portions.  (W. ) 

Similar  to  previous  specimen.  (W.) 

Krawin,  Tabor,  Bohemia. 

Fragment  from  interior.  Light-gray  with  rusty  iron 
spots.  (W.) 

Mauerkirchen,  Austria. 

Irregular  fragment.  Light-gray  with  black  crust, 
1  mm.  in  thickness.  (W.) 

Fragment  with  crust.  Two  polished  surfaces  show 
scattered  metallic  grains  and  well  marked  chon- 
dri.  (K.) 

Wittmess,  Eichstadt,   Bavaria. 

Two  fragments  from  interior,  showing  a  gray, 
coarse  ground-mass   containing  rusty  iron  grains. 

(W.) 
Barbotan,  Landes,  France. 

Fragment   from   interior,   one     surface    polished, 

showing  numerous, minute,  metallic  grains.  (W. ) 

Fragment  with  crust,  showing  pitted  surface.  Much 

discolored  by  age.  (K. ) 

Wold  Cottage,  Thwing,  Yorkshire,  England. 
Three  polished  chips,  showing  chondri  and  metallic 
grains,  both  coarse  and  fine.  (W.) 

Krakhut,  Benares,  India. 

Powder,  showing  crust  and  individual  chondri.  (VV. ) 
Fragment  with  crust.     One  surface  polished,  show- 
ing scattered  metallic  grains.  (W  ) 

L'Aigle,  Normandie,  Orne,  France. 

Gray  powder.  (W. ) 

Fragment  with  crust  The  latter  thin,  reddish 
brown, smooth.  Interior  grayish-brown,  compact, 
porphyritic  in  appearance.  (W.) 

Fragment  with  crust  and  polished  surface.  The 
polished  surface  showsafew  fine,  metallic  grains. 
Through  a  dark,  amorphous  ground-mass  are  min- 
gled grayish-white  nodules  of  various  sizes.  (K.) 

Alais,  Gard,   France. 
Coarse,  brown-black  powder,  resembling  an  earthy 
coal.     Very  friable.  (W. ) 

Interior  fragment  like  previous  specimen.         (K.) 

Weston,  Fairfield  Co, ,  Connecticut. 

Fragment  with  crust.  The  latter^ thin,  dull-black. 
The  yellowish  and  bluish-gray  portions  of  the 
interior  are  distinctly  separated.  The  chondri, 
of  which  the  mass  is  largely  made  up,  give  it  the 
appearance  of  a  fine  conglomerate.  (W. ) 


Weight 
in  grains. 


22 
4 


.06 

17.5 
110 

1.7 

6 
32 


.71 


.25 


111 


60 


1 
0.4 


5° 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i, 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat. 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Fell  1808, 

Stannern,  Iglau,  Moravia. 

225 

May  22, 

Fragment  from  interior.       Light-gray.     Structure 

6  A.  M. 

coarse-granular,  not  chondritic.                      (W.) 

7.5 

226 

Fragment  with  crust;  the  latter  glossy-black,  veined. 
Interior  greenish-black,  brecciated.     Shows  one 

large  grain  of  troilite.                                         (W.) 

23.5 

227 

*Fragment  from  interior,  similar  to  No.  225.  (W.) 

1.5 

Fell  1810, 

Hooresfort,  Tipperary,  Ireland. 

228 

Aug..  12  M. 

Fragment   with    crust.    •  Crust    black,    somewhat 
shining.     Interior,    compact,   ash-gray.      Shows 

coarse,  metallic  grains  and  white  chondri.    (K  ) 

7 

Fell  1810, 

Charsonville,  near  Orleans,  Loiret,   France. 

229 

Nov.  23, 

Fragment  from  interior.      Light-gray,  with   rusty- 

1:30  P.  M. 

brown  spots,  due  to  the  oxidation  of   the   abun- 

dant metallic  grains.                                         (W.) 

22 

230 

Thin  chip,  polished.     Like  previous  specimen,  but 

traversed  by  a  delicate,  black  vein.               (W.) 

2 

Fell  1812, 

Erxleben,  flagdeburg,  Prussia. 

231 

Apr.  15, 

Fragment   from   interior.         Dark-gray,    compact, 

4  P.  M. 

made  up  of  siliceous  grains  with  a  vitreous  lustre, 

and  numerous  fine,  metallic  grains.               (W. ) 

2.5 

Fell  1812, 

Chantonnay,  Vendee,   France. 

232 

Aug.  5, 

Thin  chip,  highly   polished.     Almost   black,    with 

2  A.  M. 

few  metallic  grains.     Structure   not   discernible 

megascopically.                                                    (W. ) 

2 

Fell  1813, 

Limerick,  Adare,  Ireland. 

233 

Sept   10, 

Thin  chip,  polished.     Dark-gray,  with  thickly  dis- 

6 A.  M. 

tributed  rusty  iron  flakes.                                 (W. ) 

1.5 

Fell  1814, 

Alexejewka,  Bachmut.Ekaterinoslav,  Russia. 

234 

Sept.  15, 

Fragment  with  crust  and  polished  surface.     Crust 

Noon. 

dull  black.  Interior  light-gray,  with  a   few  rusty 

grains.                                                                 (W. ) 

12 

Fell  1814, 

A  gen,  Lot-et-Garonne,   France. 

235 

Sept.  5, 

Fragment   from    interior,  showing   white   chondri 

Noon. 

and  metallic  grains  distributed  through  a  darker 

ground  mass.                                                        (W.) 

0.5 

Fell  1819, 

Politz.  near  Gera,  Reuss,  Germany. 

236 

Oct.  13, 

Fragment  from  interior.     Dark  gray,  with  metallic 

8  A.  M. 

grains.                                                                 (W. ) 

0.5 

Fell  1821, 

Juvinas,  Ardeche,   France. 

237 

June  15, 

Three  fragments  from  interior.  Dark-gray.  Structure 

3:30  P.  M. 

not  well  denned.  No  metallic  grains  visible. (W  ) 

12 

Fell  1825, 

Nanjemoy ,  Charles  Co. ,  Maryland. 

238 

Feb.  10, 

Fragments  from  interior.   Light-gray,  fine-grained, 

12  M. 

somewhat    friable.      Metallic    particles    thickly 

distributed.                                                           (W.) 

0.5 

Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


5i 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Fell  1828, 

Richmond,  Henrico  Co.,  Virginia. 

239 

June  4, 

Fragment  from  interior.       Composed   chiefly   of 

8:30  A.  M. 

dark,    angular,    vitreous    and    coarse    metallic 

grains.                                                                    (W. ) 

2 

Fell  1829, 

Forsyth,  Monroe  Co.,  Georgia. 

240 

May  8, 

Thin  chip,  polished.    Ground  mass  brownish-gray, 

3.30  P.  M. 

containing  chondri  of  lighter  color,    and   scat- 
tered fine  metallic  grains.  Also  smaller  fragments. 

(W.) 

5 

241 

Fragment  with  crust.     Crust  black,  dull  and  thick. 

Interior  like  previous  specimen.                       (K.) 

34 

Fell  1831, 

Vouille,  Poitiers,  Vienne,  France. 

242 

July  18. 

Fragment   with   crust.      Interior,    gray,    compact, 
flecked  with  rusty  iron  grains.     Several  delicate, 
black  veins,  apparently    filled   with  metal,  trav- 

erse the  specimen.     Smaller  fragments.        (K.) 

53 

243 

*Thin  chip,  polished.     Well-marked  chondri  make 
up  the  larger  part  of   the   mass.     Fine   metallic 

grains  are  numerous.                                        (W.) 

3 

Fell  before 

Simbirsk,  Partsch,  Russia. 

354 

1838. 

Micro-section.    See  PI.  VI,  Fig.  1.                     (W,) 

Fell  1838, 

Chandakapur,  Beraar,  India. 

245 

June  6, 

Three  fragments  from  interior,    two   of  them  pol- 

Noon. 

ished,    showing  a   dark-gray   stone,    containing 

numerous  rusty  iron  grains.                             (W.) 

3.5 

Fell  1838, 

Cold  Bokkeveld,  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Africa. 

246 

Oct.  13. 

Fragment  from   interior.     Dull-black,    with  white 

9  A.  M. 

specks.     Resembles  a  piece  of  graphite  or   bitu- 

minous coal.                                                        (W.) 

1 

Fell  1841, 

Chateau  Renard,     Loiret,  France 

249 

June  12, 

Fragment  from  interior.      Gray,    compact,     trav- 

1:30 P.  M. 

ersed  by  black,  delicate  veins.     Metallic   grains 

small  and  bright                                                (W. ) 

57 

248 

*Like  previous  specimen.                                    (W.) 

7 

247 

♦Like  No.  249.                                                       (W.) 

5 

Fell  1842, 

Pusinsko  Seio,  Milena,  Croatia. 

250 

Apr   20, 

Fragment  from  interior.     Light-gray,  with  coarse 

3  P.  M. 

and  fine  metallic  grains.     Shows  distinct  chond- 

ritic  structure.                                                      (W.) 

6 

Fell  1843. 

Bishopville,  South  Carolina. 

251 

March  25. 

Fragment   from  interior.     Light-gray,  with   white 
nodules   of   the   chladnite  of   Shepard.      Rusty 
brown  spots  show  the  presence  of  metallic  grains. 

(W.) 

1 

252 

Like    previous    specimen,    but    showing  vitreous 

crust.                                                                      (W.) 

2 

253 

Fragments  of  chladnite.                                         (K.) 

5 

52 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat 

No 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Fell  3846, 

Schonenberg,  Swabia,  Bavaria. 

254 

Dec.  25, 

Fragment  with  crust.     The   latter   is    thick,  some- 

2:45 P.  M. 

what  shining  and  scoriaceous.     The    interior   is 
dark-gray,  shows  metallic  grains   and   light  and 
dark  chondri,  and  is  traversed  by  narrow,  branch- 

ing veins  of  nickel-iron.                                      (K  ) 

17 

Fell  1847, 

Hartford,  Linn  Co.,   Iowa. 

255 

Feb.  25, 

Mass  with  crust.     The  crust,  thick  and  dull  black, 

2:45  P.  M. 

is  intersected  by  numerous  cracks.  Interior  pearl- 
gray,  abounding  in  minute  iron  grains.     Delicate 
lines  of  fracture,  which    traverse   the   specimen, 
seem  to  mark  slipping  zones  with   slicken-sided 

surfaces.                                                                 (W. ) 

128 

Fell  1849,     • 

rionroe,  Cabarras  Co.,  North  Carolina. 

256 

Oct.  31. 

Fragment  from  interior.       Dark-gray,  with    white, 

3  P.  M. 

rounded  chondri  and  numerous   metallic  grains. 

Compact.                                                            (W.) 

4 

Fell  1850, 

Kesen,  Iwate  Prefecture,  Japan. 

257 

June  13, 

Mass  showing  crust  and  interior.     The  crust   sur- 
face differs   little   from  the  interior,  except  that 
the  metallic  grains  of  the  former  have  been  black- 
ened by   fusion,    and  broad,  shallow  pits  appear 
on  this  surface.  oThe  interior  is  dark-gray,  com- 
pact  and   plentifully   sprinkled    with  rusty  iron 
grains      A  portion   of   the   surface  is  smoothed 
and    grooved,    indicating    slipping   along    these 

planes.                                                                 (W. ) 

1,286 

258 

Similar  to  previous   specimen,  but   showing  elon- 

gated pits  on  the  crust  surface.                       (W. ) 

1.211 

Fell  1852, 

Yatoor,  Nellore,  Madras,  India. 

259 

Jan.  23, 

Fragments  from  interior.    Gray,  with  dark  chondri 

4:30  P.  M. 

and  rusty  iron  grains.                                         (W.) 

1 

Fell  1852, 

Fekete,  Mezo-Madaras,  Transylvania. 

260 

Sept.  4, 

Polished  fragment  from  interior.  In  the  dark-brown 

4.30  P.  M. 

ground-mass  are  sharply  outlined  gray  and  white 
chondri,  interspersed  with  bright,  minute  grains 

of  nickel-iron.                                                       (W.) 

2 

261 

Like  previous  specimen,  but  showing   rough,  dull- 
brown   crust,  not   sharply  separated    from    the 

interior.                                                              (W.) 

4 

Fell  1852, 

Borkut,  Marmaros,  Hungary. 

262 

Oct.  13, 

Individual  chondri,  spheroidal,  dark -green  in  color. 

3  P.  M. 

(W.) 

0.12 

Fell  1853, 

Girgenti,  Sicily. 

263 

Feb.  10, 

Polished  fragments  from  interior.  Gray,  very  fine- 

11 P.  M. 

grained,  with  bright,  metallic  grains.            (W.) 

1.1 

Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


53 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat. 
No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Fell  1855, 

Island  of  Oesel,  Kaande,  Livland,  Baltic  Sea. 

264 

May  11, 

Fragments    with   crust.     Interior   light-gray    with 

3:30  P.  M. 

rusty  and  bright  metallic  grains.  Friable.    Crust 

•  .5  mm.  thick,  dull-black,  papillated.             (W.) 

o 

Feil  1855, 

Gnarrenburg,  Bremervorde,  Hanover. 

265 

May  13, 

Fragment  from   interior.     Through  a   light,  fine- 

5 P.  M. 

grained  ground-mass  are  scattered   coarse  parti- 
cles of  a  greenish-black  mineral.     Few   metallic 

grains.                                                                 (W.) 

0.5 

Fell  1856, 

Trenzano,  Brescia,  Italy. 

268 

Nov.  12, 

Cubical  fragment,  with  crust  on  two  surfaces.  The 

4  P.  M. 

latter  shining,  black,  only  slightly  pitted,  .3  mm. 
thick.       Interior   very   compact,  coarse  grained,. 
the  metallic  portion    forming    a   network   which 
encloses  dark,  spherical  chondri,  some  of  a  diam- 

eter of  2  mm.                                                        (W.) 

57 

535 

Smaller  fragment,  like  previous  specimen.       (W.) 

o 

269 

Like  previous  specimen.                                        (W.) 

20.5 

Fell  1857, 

• 

Parnallee,  Madras,  India. 

270 

Feb.  28, 

Fragment  with  crust.     The  latter  is    thin,  brown- 

Neon. 

ish-black  and  differs  little  from   the   rest   of    the 
stone.     The  interior  is  coarse-grained,  with  few 

metallic  grains.                                                  (W.) 

35 

Fell  1858, 

Ausson  and  Clarac,  Montrejeau,  Haute  Garonne, 

Dec.  9, 

France. 

271 

7:30  A.  M. 

Fragment  from  interior.     Light-gray,    with  rusty- 
iron  grains.     Compact.    Delicate  veins  penetrate 

the  mass.                                                            (W.) 

13 

272 

Fragment  from  the  interior,  with  polished  surface. 
The  latter  shows  large  chondri  of  an  olivine-like 
mineral,  embedded  in  a  ground   mass   made   up 
chiefly   of  small   white   chondri   and   grains  of 

nickel-iron.                                                          (K.) 

22 

Fell  1860, 

New  Concord,  Muskingum  Co.,  Ohio. 

273 

May,  1, 

Nearly  complete  individual,  of   flattened,   tetrahe- 

12:45  P.  M. 

dral  form,  angles  little  rounded.  A  smooth, some- 

what shining,  black  crust  covers  the  slightly  pit- 
ted surface.      Interior  dark-gray,    compact  and 

fine-grained.     Metallic  grains  numerous.     (W. ) 

347 

274 

Section  from   flattened   individual,  showing  crust 
and  two  polished  surfaces.     The  crust   is   thin, 
dull-black  to  reddish.     A  vein  of  metallic  matter 
runs  through  the  mass,  and  stands  out  in   relief 
from  the  crust.    The  interior  of  the  stone  is  dark- 
brown  and  gray.     Metallic  grains  are  large  and 

abundant.                                                           (W.) 

753 

54 


Field  Columbian  Museum — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


FAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams. 


275 

;?6 


277 

278 

279 

280 
281 

282 
283 

284 

285 
286 

287 


Fell  18G0, 
July  14, 
230  P.  M. 


Fell  1861, 
May  12. 


Fell  1861. 
Oct.  7, 
1:30  P.  M. 


Fell  1863, 
Aug.  8, 
12:30  P.  M. 


Found  1863-4 


Fell  1864, 
May  14,  8  P.M. 

Fell  1865, 
Aug.  25, 
11  A.  M. 

Fell  1866, 
June  9, 
5  P.  M. 


Dhurmsala,  Kangra,  Punjaub,   India. 

Fragments  from  interior.  (K.) 

Fragment  with  crust,  the  latter  black,  shining  and 
showing  numerous  pits.  Interior  light-gray,  with 
rusty  grains.  Compact.  Nodules  of  a  bluish 
gray,  finer  grained  than  the  rest,  are  distributed 
through  the  mass.  (W.) 

Butsura,  Goruckpur,   India. 

Fragments  with  crust  and  polished  surfaces.  Iron 
is  present  in  large  amount,  forming  a  matrix  in 
which  are  held  chondri  1  mm.  in  diameter,  of 
an  olivine-like  mineral.  The  rest  of  the  ground- 
mass  is  greenish-black,  structureless.  (W.) 

Klein-Henow,  Alt-Strelitz,  Mecklenberg. 
Fragment  from  interior,  made  up  of  coarse,   trans- 
parent grains  with  rusty  metallic  ones,  the  whole 
resembling  a  piece  of  brjwn  sandstone.       (W.) 

Aukoma,  PHHstifer,  Livland,    Russia. 

Fragment  from  interior.  Dark-gray,  compact. 
Made  up  of  dark,  transparent  grains  with  a  large 
number  of  minute  specks  of  troilite.  (W.) 

Toinhannock  Creek,  Rensselaer  Co.,  N  e  w  Y  or  k 
Fragment  from  interior,  polished.  Made  up  chiefly 
of   metallic  grains,    and   a   dark-brown,  olivine- 
like  mineral.  (W.) 
Slice,  showing   crust.     Interior   portion    like   pte- 
vious  specimen.  (W.) 

Orgueil,  Montauban,  Tarn  et  Garonne,   France. 
Coarse,  black  powder,  somewhat  friable.  (K.) 

Aumale,  Senhadja,  Algeria,  Africa. 

Slice  from  interior.  Ash-gray,  few  metallic  grains. 
Chondritic  structure.  (W. ) 

Knyahinya,  near  Nagy-Berezna,   Hungary. 

One-half  of  a  complete  individual,  showing  crust 
and  polished  surface.  The  latter  exhibits  large 
and  small  chondri,  with  few  metallic  grains.  (W.) 

Complete  individual,  covered  with  thin, black  crust. 

Complete  individual,  mostly  covered  with  black, 
somewhat  shining  crust.  Surface  indented  with 
shallow  pits.  (WJ 

Flattened  mass,  showing  crust  and  one  polished 
surface.  The  crust  surface  is  smooth  and  cov- 
ered with  small,  conical  pittings,  giving  to  it  the 
appearance  of  having  a  cellular  structure.  The 
polished  surface  well  exhibits  the  aggregation 
of  chondri  which  make  up  the  mass  of  the  stone. 
Some  of  the  chondri  reach  a  diameter  of  3  mm. 

(K.) 


123 


1.85 


7.5 

1.5 


82 
10 

239 


3,231 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


55 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 

Cat. 

•No. 

Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 

NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 

Weight 
in  grams. 

Fell  1866, 

Knyahinya,  near  Nagy-Berezna,  Hungary. 

288 

June  9, 

Complete  individual,  of  irregular,  pyramidal  form, 

5  P.  M. 

surface  covered  with  shining  black  crust.      (K.) 

82.5 

Fell  1868, 

Pultusk,  Siedlce,  Gostkov,  &c,  Poland. 

280 

Jan.  30, 

Part  of  a   large    individual,    showing    crust    and 

7  P.  M. 

interior.     The  former  dull-black,  papillated;  the 
latter,    gray   with   rusty   iron   grains.     All  fine- 

grained.                                                             (W. ) 

350 

290 

*49  complete  individuals,  varying   in    size  from   a 
pea  to  a  walnut.     All  covered  more  or  less  with 
crust,  in  some  cases  showing  complete  fusion   of 
the   surface,  in  others   only   a   smoking   of   the 

same.                                                                   (W.) 

435.5 

291 

*Seven  complete   individuals  of   larger   size   than 

previous  specimens,     Covered  with  crust.  (W. ) 

445 

293 

Fragment  from  interior.                                       (K.) 

1.9 

Fell  1868, 

Ornans,  Doubs,  France. 

294 

July  11. 

Fragment,  sawed  from  interior.  Resembles  a  lump 

of  hardened,  sandy  mud.                                  (K.) 

5 

Fell  1868, 

Sauquis,  St.  Etienne,  Basses-Pyrenees,    France. 

295 

Sept.  8, 

Fragment  with  crust  and  polished  surface.     Crust 

2:30  A.  M. 

black  and   shining,  about    1  mm.  in   thickness. 
Interior  brownish-gray,  with  scattered  metallic 
particles.      Also    fragment   without   crust,    and 

micro-section.                                                     (K.) 

12 

Fell  1868, 

Frankfort,  Franklin  Co.,  Alabama. 

29G 

Dec.  5. 

Thin,  sawed  fragment      Light-gray  with  black  and 

white  grains.   No  metallic  particles  visible. (W.) 

0.5 

Fell  1869. 

Hessle,  near  Upsala,  Sweden. 

297 

Jan.  1, 

Sawed   fragment,    with     thin,    dull-black     crust. 

12:30  P.  M. 

Metallic  grains  coarse  and  numerous.           (W. ) 

18 

298 

Fragment  showing  crust  on  all  but  two   surfaces. 

(K.) 

5 

Fell  1869, 

/        r 

Kernouve,  Cleguerec,  Morbihan,  France. 

299 

May  22, 

Fragment  from  interior.                                        (W. ) 

0.4 

300 

10  P.  M. 

Thin  chip,  one  surface  polished.  Dark-gray,  metal- 
lic and  stony   materials   about   equally   distrib- 

uted.                                                                  (W.) 

2 

301 

Thin,  polished  fragment.                                   (W.) 

24 

Fell  1871, 

Searsmont,  Waldo  Co.,  Maine. 

302 

May  21, 

Fragment  from  interior.     Light-gray.              (W.) 

0.25 

303 

8:15  A.  M. 

Various  fragments  from  interior.    Light-gray,  with 
metallic   grains  of   silvery    lustre.      Chondritic 

structure.                                                            (K.) 

3 

Fell  1871, 

Bandong,  Goemoroeh,  Java. 

304 

Dec.  10, 

Two   fragments   from    interior.      Grayish-brown. 

1:30  P.  M. 

with  metallic  particles.                                   (W.) 

.  15 

56 


Field  Columbian  Museum  — Geology.  Vol.  i, 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find, 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight, 
in  grams. 


309 
310 
311 
305 
306 

307 
308 

312 
313 
314 


315 
316 


317 


319 


Found  1872. 


Fell  1873, 
June. 


Fell  1874, 
May  14, 
2:30  P.  M. 


Fell  1875, 
Feb.  12, 
10:15  P.  M. 


Fell  1876, 
June  28, 
11:30  A.  M. 


Fell  1877, 
Jan.  3. 


Fell  1877, 
Oct.  13, 
2  P.  M. 


Waconda,  Mitchell  Co.,  Kansas. 

*Mass  from  interior.       Larger  part   light-gray   in 

color,  the  remaining  portion  harder  and  darker. 

Large   chondri  are  visible   in   the  latter.   (W. ) 
Fragment  with  crust.     The  latter  thin,  dull-black, 

blebby.    A  dark  vein  passes  through  a  portion  of 

the  specimen.  (W.) 

*Fragment  from  interior,  much  weathered.     (K.) 

Jhung,  Punjaub,  India. 

Fragment  from  interior.  Grayish-brown,  coarse 
grained,  chondritic,  metallic  particles  few  and 
small.  (W.) 

Thin,  polished  fragment,  showing  characters  like 
previous  specimen.  (W.) 

Nash  Co.,  near  Castalia,  North  Carolina. 

Fragment  with  crust;  the  latter  dull-black  and 
scoriaceous.  The  color  of  the  stone  is  dark-gray, 
with  no  metallic  grains  visible.  (W.) 

Fragment  from  interior,  showing  occasional  metal- 
lic grains.  (W. ) 

Homestead,  Iowa  Co.,  Iowa  . 

Complete  individual,  nearly  covered  with  crust. 
Surface  indented  with  broad,  shallow  pits.  Crust 
thin,  dull-black.      Interior  of  stone   dark-grav. 

(W.j 

*About  three-fourths  of  a  complete  individual. 
Crust  and  interior  like  previous  specimen.  The 
chondritic  structure  is  well  exhibited,  and  metal- 
lic grains  are  numerous.  (W. ) 

Polished  slab  with  crust.  The  abundance  of  metal- 
lic constituents  is  well  displayed  in  this  speci- 
men, as  are  also  the  chondri.  (W. ) 

Stalldalen,  Orebro,   Sweden. 

Fragment  with  crust.  The  latter  black  and  shin- 
ing.    Interior  of  the  stone  dark-gray.  (K.) 

Irregular  mass,  with  crust.  Interior  oxidized  to  a 
brownish-black  mass,  amid  which  it  is  difficult 
to  distinguish  the  structural  features.  (K. ) 

Warrenton,  Warren  Co.,   Missouri. 

Fragment  from  interior.  Resembles  a  piece  of 
hardened,  sandy  mud  or  blue  clay,  with  a  few 
metallic  grains  visible.  (W. ) 

Sarbanovac,  Soko  -  Banja,  N.  -  E.  of  Alexinatz, 
S  e  r  v  i  a. 
Irregular  fragment,  of  light-gray  color,  showing 
chondri  about  2  mm.  in  diameter  through  the 
mass,  also  nodules  of  troilite  and  metallic 
grains.  (W.) 


2,835 


151.5 
5.5 


1.5 

6.5 


3,175 

7,626 
1,744 

5 
50 


33 


Meteorite  Collection. — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


57 


Aerolites  or  stone  meteorites. 


Cat. 

No 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams. 


173 


174 


320 


321 


322 


323 


324 


330 


331 


332 


333 


Found  1878. 


Fell  1879. 
Aug.  1, 
Evening. 


Fell  1880. 
June  30. 


Fell  1882, 
Feb.  3, 
4  P.  M. 


Fell  1883, 
Feb.  16, 
3  P.  M. 


Fayette,  Texas. 

About  one-tenth  the  original  mass,  showing  crust 
and  polished  surface.  The  crust  surface  is  some- 
what decomposed,  but  shows  the  characteristic 
pittings.  The  polished  surface  shows  the  dark- 
green  color  of  the  stone,  with  its  fine  texture  and 
scattered  metallic  grains.  (W.) 

Thin  slab  from  another  portion  of  the  specimen, 
exhibiting  the  black  veins  peculiar  to  this 
meteorite.  (W. ) 

Nagaya,  Entre Rios,  Argentina,    South    Amer- 
ica . 
Small  fragment,  entirely  black  in  color,  one  sur- 
face having  a   scoriaceous   appearance,    the   re- 
mainder the  lustre  of  graphite.  (W. ) 

Carbonaceous  rieteorite,  Province  of  Entre  Rios, 

Argentina,  South  America. 
Several  fragments,  having  much  the  appearance  of 
bits  of  black  lava.  (W. ) 

Hoes,  Kolos,   Transylvania. 

Nearly  complete  individual,  cuboidal  inform,  with 
solid  angles  only  slightly  rounded.  Interior 
grayish-brown  in  color,  with  coarse,  metallic 
grains.  (W. ) 

Elongated  fragment,  showing  crust  on  two  sides. 
Narrow,  dark  veins  similar  to  those  noted  by 
Tschermak,  pass  through  the  mass  in  several 
directions.  (W  ) 

*Six  fragments  of  nearly  equal  size,  showing  crust 
and  interior.  They  have  in  general  a  cuboidal 
form  with  a  prominence  of  the  solid  angles.  Por- 
tions cf  the  interior  display  a  "slickensided" 
surface.  (W. ) 

Complete  individual,  tetrahedral  in  form.  Entirely 
covered  with  thick,  black  crust,  except  at  one 
point,  where  the  light-gray  interior  may  be 
seen.  (K. ) 

Complete  individual,  plano-convex  in  form,  the 
convex  surface  being  evidently  the  "breast"  side. 
The  opposite  face  shows  a  thinner  crust  and 
rougher  surface.  (K.) 

Alfianello,  Brescia,  Italy. 

Fragment,  with  crust.  The  latter  is  about  0.4  mm. 
in  thickness,  and  of  a  dirty  black  color.  The 
interior  of  the  stone  is  ash-gray,  fine-grained, 
and  contains  metallic  grains,  with  some  coarse 
nodules  of  the  same.  (W.) 

♦Interior  fragment,  ash-gray,  with  brown  spots, 
due  to  the  oxidation  of  the  metallic  particles. Sev- 
eral of  the  latter  are  quite  large,  and  rounded  as 
if  previously  fused.  (W. ) 


10.983 
2,934 

10 


0.5 


179 


11 


543 


80.5 


24 


134.5 


58 


Field  Columbian  Museum. — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 

No. 


334 


335 


337 


338 


3H9 


340 


341 
32G 


342 

343 

344 


345 
346 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


Fell  1883, 
Feb.  16, 
3  P.  M. 

Fell  1887, 
Aug.  30. 


Fcund  It 


Fell  1889, 
June  0. 


Fell  1890, 
May  2, 
5:15  P.  M. 


Fell  1890, 
June  25, 
1  P.  M. 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Alfianello,  Brescia,   Italy. 
*Large  fragment,  with  crust.    Characters  like  those 
of  previous  specimen.  (K. ) 

Taborg,  Ochansk,  Perm,  Russia. 

Fragment  with  crust.  The  latter  about  1  mm. 
thick,  dull-black  and  blebby.  Interior  of  stone 
light  bluish-gray.  Shows  brecciated  structure. 
Fine  metallic  grains  are  numerous.    .  (W. ) 

Pipe  Creek,  Texas. 

Irregular  fragment,  with  one  polished  surface.  A 
dark,  heavy  stone,  with  a  large  proportion  of 
metallic  grains.  (K.) 

Mighei,  Southern    Russia. 

Fragment,  with  crust.  Of  dark  color,  somewhat 
resembling  a  piece  of  graphite,  and  so  friable 
as  to  soil  the  fingers.  Crust  reddish  and  scori- 
aceous.  (W.) 

Like  previous  specimen,  except  that  crust  is  darker. 
Chondri  of  lighter  color  are  distributed  through 
the  mass.  (K. ) 

Leland,  Winnebago  Co.,  Iowa. 

609  complete  individuals,  ranging  in  weight  from 
one-tenth  of  an  ounce  to  ten  pounds  each.  They 
exhibit  almost  every  variety  of  shape  and  degree 
of  surface  fusion.  From  the  fully  rounded 
specimens  with  thick,  black  crust  there  is  every 
gradation  to  those  whose  rough  surface  is  only 
slightly  blackened,  indicating  that  they  separated 
from  other  masses  only  a  short  distance  before 
reaching  the  earth.  The  interior,  where  seen, 
is  light  gray,  with  coarse,  metallic  particles.  In 
the  group  is  the  stone  which  fell  into  a  hay- 
stack without  setting  it  on  fire.  (See  PI.  V,  Fig. 
2.)  (K.) 

*57  complete  individuals,  all  of  small  size.      (W.) 
Complete  individual,  with  small,  conical    pittings 
resembling  rain  drop  impressions.  (W.) 

Farmington,  Washington  Co.,  Kansas. 

Fragment  from  interior,  having  the  appearance  of 
a  dolerite  of  dark-gray  color  and  splintery  frac- 
ture. Contains  white,  radiated  chondri.  Bronze- 
yellow  metallic  grains  are  numerous.  (W. ) 

*Like  previous  specimen,  but  showing  smooth 
crust  which  can  be  readily  scaled  off  in  cer- 
tain spots.  (W. ) 

Thin  slab,  polished,  showing  white  and  dark 
chondri,  and  various  grains  of  nickeliferous  iron. 

(VV.) 

♦Similar  to  No.  343.  (W.) 

Full-sized  slab,  polished.  Similar  to  above  speci- 
men. (W.) 


Weight 
in  grams. 


300 


23.5 


100 


1.5 
44 


15.823 
354 


282 


120 
560 


425 
672 

3,302 


Meteokite  Collection. — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


59 


Aerolites  or  stone  meteorites. 


Cat. 

No 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find. 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  grams 


847 

348 
348 

327 
350 


Fell  1890, 
June  25, 
1  P.  M. 


Found  1891. 


351 


Fell  1892, 
Aug.  29. 


352 
353 

356 


Fell  1893, 
May  26, 
3  P.  M. 


Farmington,  Washington  Co.,  Kansas. 

Large  section  of  complete  individual,  showing 
crust  and  one  polished  surface.  The  crust  sur- 
face is  rounded,  but  the  usual  pittingsare  absent. 
Bead-like  projections  mark  the  presence  of  me- 
tallic nodules  which  resisted  fusion.  (W.) 

Full-sized  slab,  polished.  The  delicate  veins 
filled  with  metal,  noted  by  Preston,  are  beauti- 
fully exhibited  in  this  specimen.  (W.) 

Nearly  complete  individual.  The  metallic  beads 
on  the  surface  are  numerous,  and  the  scale-like 
crust  seems  to  be  largely  metallic.  In  other 
respects  like  previous  specimen.  (K . ) 

Section  showing  natural  and  polished  surfaces. 
The  latter  shows  several  fissures  filled  with  metal, 
running  in  two  directions.  (K.) 

Long  Island,  Phillips  Co.,  Kansas  . 

Nearly  complete  individual,  made  up  of  four 
pieces  which  have  been  placed  together  along  the 
line  of  original  fracture.  The  other  2,930  pieces, 
varying  in  weight  from  10,000  grammes  to  5 
grammes,  were  probably  also  a  part  of  the  same 
individual  at  the  time  it  fell  to  the  earth.  The 
surface  of  the  main  mass  is  indented  by  shallow, 
elliptical  pits,  the  long  axes  of  which  run  in  par- 
allel directions.  The  crust  is  smooth  and  brown, 
but  in  many  places  coated  with  a  white  incrusta- 
tion of  carbonate  of  lime,  derived  from  the  soil 
in  which  the  stone  lay.  The  interior  of  the  mass 
shows  a  very  compact,  fine-grained  texture,  with 
few  metallic  grains;  color,  blue-gray.  The  smaller 
fragments  are  much  rusted  by  exposure.       (K.) 

Bath,  South  Dakota. 

Irregular  fragment,  with  crust  and  polished  sur- 
face. The  crust  surface  is  indented  with  broad, 
shallow  pits.  Crust,  dull-black,  papillated,  not 
more  than  .3  mm.  in  thickness.  Interior,  gray- 
ish-brown, of  fine-granular  structure,  contain- 
ing minute  metallic  grains.  A  portion  shows 
"slickensided"  surface.  (W.) 

Beaver  Creek,  British    Columbia. 

Fragment,  with  crust.  Interior,  dark  gray,  made 
up  of  small,  glassy  chondri,  and  fine  metallic 
grains.  (\V.) 

Like  previous  specimen.  Crust  dull  black,  about 
.3  mm.  thick.  (W.) 

(date  not  known.) 
Terni,  Italy. 

Fragment,  with  crust.  Crust  dull-black,  scoriace- 
ous.  nearly  .2  mm.  in  thickness.  Interior  of 
stone  light  bluish-gray.  Shows  chondri  and 
metallic  grains.  (W.) 


13.865 

2,792 

8,167 

327 


534. 4G7 


1,270 


5.5 
19 


6o 


Field  Columbian  MuseuxM  — Geology,  Vol.  i. 


AEROLITES  OR  STONE  METEORITES. 


Cat. 
No. 


Date 
of  Fall  or  Find 


NAME  AND  DESCRIPTION. 


Weight 
in  giamt. 


355 


Rockport. 

Plano-convex  mass,  showing  crust  and  polished 
surface.  Crust  reddish  brown,  about  1  mm. 
thick.  Interior  greenish-black,  exhibiting  no 
megascopic  structure  except  scattered  metallic 
grains  and  nodules.  (W.) 


73 


Meteorite  Collection — Handbook  and  Catalogue. 


6r 


CASTS  OF  METEORITES. 


About  50  casts  or  models  of  meteorites  are  exhibited  illustrating 
the  size,  form  and  superficial  appearance  of  the  original  masses  of 
which  some  of  the  specimens  in  the  cases  formed  a  part. 

The  following  is  a  list : — 


380 — La  Bella  Roca,  Mexico. 
381 — Wold  Cottage,  England. 
382 — Durala,  India. 
383 — Babb's  Mill,  Tennesee. 
384 — Wichita  County,  Texas. 
385 — Nagy-Diwina,  Hungary. 
386 — Akburpur,  India. 
387— Chesterville,  S.  C. 
388 — Braunau,  Bohemia. 
389 — Nellore,  India. 
390 — Segowlie,  India. 
391 — Sarepta,  Russia. 
392 — Verkhne  Udinsk,  Siberia. 
393 — Parnallee,  India. 
394 — Staunton,  Virginia. 
395 — Khiragurh,  India. 
396 — New  Concord,  Ohio. 
397 — Breitenbach,  Bohemia. 
398 — Butsura,  India. 
399 — El  Chanaralino,  Chile. 
400 — Juncal,  Chile. 
401 — Allan  Co.,  Kentucky. 
402 — Goalpara,  India. 
403 — Krahenberg,  Bavaria. 
404 — Homestead,  Iowa. 
405 — Middlcsborough,  England. 
406 — Hex  River   Mountains,  S. 
Africa. 


407 — Joe  Wright  Mountain,  Ar- 
kansas. 
408 — Gloriet a  Mountain,  New 

Mexico. 
409 — Puquios,  Chile. 
410 — East  Tennesee. 
411 — Cabin  Creek,  Arkansas. 
413 — RockwoodNo.  2. Tennesee. 
414 — RockwoodNo.  3. Tennesee. 
415 — Hamilton  Co.,  Texas. 
416 — Welland,  Canada. 
417 — Kenton  Co.,  Kentucky. 
418 — Kiowa  Co.,  Kansas. 
419 — Washington  Co.,  Kansas. 
420 — Cacaria,  Durango,  Mexico. 
422 — Chupaderos,  Chihuahua, 

Mexico.  15,060  Kg. 
423 — Chupaderos,  Chihuahua, 

Mexico.  9,000  Kg. 
424 — San  Gregorio,  Chihuahua, 

Mexico. 
425 — La  Concepcion,Chihuahua, 

Mexico. 
426 — Descubridora,     Catorze, 

Mexico. 
427 — Zacatecas,  Mexico. 
428 — Teposcolula,  Mexico. 


INDEX  TO  METEORITES. 


Adare,  see  Limerick 

Aeriotopos,  see  Bear  Creek 

Agen 50 

Aigle,  see  L'Aigle 

Akburpur Gl 

Alais 23,  28,  49 

Albacher  Miihle 3G 

Alexejewka 50 

Alexinatz,  see  Soko-Banja 

Alfianello 57,  58 

Allen  County 21,  40,  Gl 

Arva 37 

Atacama 22,  23,  45,  46,  47 

Auburn,  see  Macon  County   

Augusta  County,  see  Staunton 

Aukoma,  see  Pillistfer 

Aumale 54 

Ausson  and  Clarac 53 

Babb's  Mill 15,  61 

Bachmut 50 

Bahia 35 

Bandong 55 

Barbctan 49 

Bates  County 19,  21,  40 

Bath 13,  27,  59 

Batsura,  see  Butsura 

Bear  Creek 21,40 

Beaver  Creek 59 

Bembdego,  see  Bahia 

Benares,  see  Krakhut 

Bishopville 24,  25,  51 

Bitburg 36 

Bluff,  see  Fayette 

Bois  de  Fontaine,  see  Charsonville. 

Bokkeveld,  see  Cold  Bokkeveld 

Borkut 52 

Braunau 19,   22.  38,  61 

Brazos,  see  Wichita  County 


Breitenbach. 45,  Gl 

Bremervorde,  see  Gnarrenburg 

Bridgewater, 43 

Burke  County 43 

Burlington 36 

Busti 24 

Butcher  Irons,  see  Coahuila 

Butler,  see  Bates  County 

Butsura  15,  54,  61 

Cabarras  County 52 

Cabin  Creek -  61 

Cacaria 61 

Campo  de  Pucara,  see  Imilac 

Canon  Diablo 7,   14,   15,  20,  44 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 36 

Caracoles,  see  Imilac 

Carbonaceous  meteorite 57 

Careyfort 22,  37 

Carroll  County   23,  46 

Carthage 38 

Castalia,  see  Nash  County . 

Catorce,  see  Descubridora 

Chandakapur 51 

Chantonnay 27,  50 

Charcas 36 

Charlotte,  see  Dickson  County 

Charsonville 27,  50 

Cbarlottetown,  see  Cabarras  County 

Chartres,  see  Charsonville 

Chassigny 24 

Chateau-Renard 51 

Chattooga  County 43 

Chester  County 38 

Chesterville 21,  38,  61 

Chulafinnee. .    40 

Chupaderos 7,   16,  61  ' 

Clarac,  see  Ausson  and  Clarac 

Cleburne  County,  see  Chulafinnee. . 


69 


Index  to  Meteorites. 


63 


C1egue>ec 55 

Cleveland 41,  Gl 

Coahuila,    see    Sancha    Estate   and 

Butcher  Irons 

Cocke  County 37 

Cold  Bokkeveld 27,  51 

Collescipoli,  see  Terni 

Coney  Fork,  see  Carthage 

Coopertown,  see  Robertson  County. 
Cosby 's  Creek,  see  Cocke  County . . . 

Cranbourne 16,  39 

Cross  Timbers,  see  Red  River 

Cumberland  County 46,  61 

Dalton,  see  Whitfield  County 

DeKalb  County,  see  Careyfort 

Debreczin,  see  Kaba 

Deep  Springs  Farm 38 

Denton  County 39 

Denver  County,  see  Bear  Creek. . . . 

Descubridora 35,  61 

Desert  of  Atacama,  see  Atacama. . . . 

Desert  of  Mapimi,  see  Mapimi 

Dhurmsala 15,  54 

Dickson  County 37 

Dona  Inez 15,  47 

Duralla 61 

Eagle  Station,  see  Carroll  County . . 

East  Tennessee,  see  Cleveland 

Eichstadt 49 

El  Capitan  Mountains 44 

El  Chanaralino 61 

Elbogen 35 

Ellenboro 44 

Elmo,  see  Independence  County. . . . 

Emm2tt  County,  see  Estherville 

Emmitsburg  39 

Ensisheim 10,  49 

Entre  Rios 28,  57 

Erxleben 50 

Estherville 13,  22,  46 

Faha,  see  Li  merick 

Fairfield  County 49 

Farmington 58,  59 

Fayette 57 

Fekete,  see  Meso-Madaras 

Floyd  County 14,  43 

Forsyth 13,  26,  51 

Frankfort,  see  Franklin  County. . . . 

Franklin  County 24,  55 


Frederick  County , 


39 


Gera,  see  Politz 

Gibbs  meteorite,  see  Red  River 

Girgenti   52 

Glorieta  Mountain   19,  42,  61 

Gnarrenburg   53 

Grand  Rapids 13,   19,  41,  42 

Goalpara 61 

Green  County,  see  Babb's  Mill 

Guernsey  County,  see  New  Concord 

Hainholz 23,  45 

Hamilton  County 22,  43,  61 

Hammond 42 

Hartford,  see  Linn  County 

Hastings  County 39 

Hauptmannsdorf,  see  Braunau 

Henry  County 22,  43 

Hessle 15,  55 

Hex  River  Mountains 22,  41,  61 

Homestead 23,  25,  56,  61 

Ibbenbuhren 24 

Iglau,  see  Stannern 

Ihung,  see  Jhung 

Imilac 45 

Independence  County 42 

Indian  Valley  Township 43 

Iowa  County,  see  Homestead 

Island  of  Oesel,  see  Oesel     

Ivanpah,  see  San  Bernardino  County 
Ixtlhuaca 36 

Janacera  Pass,  see  Mejillones 

Jarquera,  seeJMejillones 

Jenny's  Creek 41 

Jhung 56 

Joe  Wright  Mountain 22,  42,  61 

Jonzac , 24 

Junca! 40,  61 

Juvinas 23,  24,  25,  50 

Kaba 28 

Kaande,  see  Oesel 

Kendall  County 43 

Kenton  County 22,  43,  (il 

Kernoure,  see  Cleguerec 

Kesen 13,  14,  23,  27,  52 

Khiragurh 61 

Kiowa  County 7,  22,  47,  48,  61 

Klein-Menow 54 

Knoxville,  see  Tazewell  County. . . . 


64 


Index  to  Meteorites. 


Knyahinya 13,   1G,  25,  2G,  54,  55 

Kostritz,  see  Politz 

Kratienberg    61 

Krakhut 11,  49 

Krasnojarsk 10,  22,   23,  45 

Krawin,  see  Tabor 

La  Concepcion G 1 

L'Aigle 11,   4!) 

La  Bella  Roca Gl 

Lagrange,  see  Oldham  County 

Langenpiernitz,  see  Stannern 

Laramie  County 43 

Laurens  County 30 

Lear  Iron 42 

Leland 58 

Lenarto 18,  36 

Lexington  County 41 

Libonnez,  see  Juvinas 

Limerick 50 

Linn  County 15,  27,  52 

Lion  River 21,  38 

Llano  del  Inca 47 

Long  Island 50 

Lontolaks 24 

Luce  Island 11 

Macon  County 40 

Madoc 39 

Madras 53 

Magdeburg,  see  Erxleben. . . 

Magura,  see  Arva 

Manbhoom 24 

Mapimi,  Desert  of 37 

Marmaros,  see  Borkhut 

Mauerkirchen '.   49 

Maverick  County 21,  22,  41 

Medwedewa,  see  Krasnojarsk 

Mejillones 4G 

Mezo-Madaras 52 

Middlesborough 01 

Mighei '. ...  58 

Milena,  see  Pusinsko  Selo 

Miljana,  see  Pusinsko  Selo 

Minden 45 

Miney   45 

Misteca,  see  Oaxaca 

Mocs   13,  15,  27,  57 

Monroe,  see  Cabarras  County 

Montauban,  see  Orgueil   

Mooresfort 50 


Murfreesbpro 38 

Muskingum  County,  see  New  Con- 
cord   

Nagaya 57 

Nagy-Diwina Gl 

Nagy-Vazsony 43 

Nan jemoy 50 

Nash  County 56 

Nellore 52,  Gl 

Nelson  County 30 

New  Concord 13,  23,  25,  53,  61 

Oaxaca 36 

Octibbeha  County 18 

Oesel,  Island  of 53 

Oldham  County 40 

Orange  River   30 

Orgueil 28,  54 

Ornans     55 

Pallas  Iron,  see  Krasnojarsk 

Parnallee 53    61 

Pavlodar  46 

Peterborough 24 

Phillips  County 7,  13,  14,  16,  50 

Pillistifer 54 

Pipe  Creek 58 

Pohlitz,  see  Politz 

Politz 50 

Powder  Mill  Creek 47 

Pultusk 13,  15,  25,  55 

Puquios 21,  42,   61 

Pusinsko  Selo 26,   51 

Putnam  County   37 

Red  River 16,  36 

Richmond   ...  51 

Rittersgriin 22,  23,  45 

Robertson  County 20,  40 

Rockingham   County 38,  40 

Rockport 60 

Rockwocd,  see  Cumberland  County. 

Rutherford  County,    see   Ellenboro 

and  Murfreesboro 

St.  Croix  County 10,  42 

St.  Etienne 55 

Saltillo,  see  Sancha  Estate * 

San  Bernardino  County 41 

San  Gregorio 7,  61 

San  Luis  Potosi 36 

San  Pedro,  see  Sancha  Estate 


Index  to  Meteorites. 


65 


Sancha  Estate 37 

Sarbanovac,  see  Soko-Banja 

Santa  Catarina 18,  40 

Santa  Fe  County 42 

Santa  Rosa,  see  Sancha  Estate 

Sarbonavac,  see  Soko-Banja 

Sarepta       61 

Sauquis 55 

Schonenberg. 35,  27,  52 

Scottsville 40 

Searsmont 55 

Seelasgen 21,  38 

Segowlie  61 

Seneca  Falls 8,  38 

Seneca  River,  see  Seneca  Falls 

Se  hadja,  see  Aumale 

Sevier  County,  see  Cocke  County.  .. 

Shalka...    24 

Sierra  de  Chaco 45 

Silver  Crown 21,  43 

Simbirsk 51 

Smith  County 38 

Smith's  Mountain 4C 

Soko-Banja 56 

Stalldalen 56 

Stannern 13,  24,  25,  50 

Staunton 20,  22,  39,  61 

Stutsman  County ,  .  21,  42 

Swabia 52 

Szlanicza,  see  Arva 

Tabor 49 

Taborg 27,  58 

Taney  County 45 

Tazewell  County 39 


Teposcolula 61 

Terni 59 

Texas,  see  Red  River 

Thunda 42 

Tipperary,  see  Mooresfort 

Toluca  ....   13,  17,  19,  20,   22,  35,  36 

Tomhannock  Creek 54 

Trenton 40 

Trenzano 13,  26,  53 

Trigueres,  see  Chateau-Renard 

Union  County 38 

Vaca  Muerta,  see  Mejillones 

Venagas,  see  Descubridora 

Verkhne  Udinsk 61 

Vouille 51 

Waconda  27,  56 

Walker  County 37 

Washington  County,  13,27,40,58,59,  61 

Wayne  County 41 

Welland         43,  61 

West  Liberty,  see  Homestead 

Weston 26,  27,  49 

Whitfield  County 41 

Wichita  County 10,  37,  61 

Winnebago  County 13,   15,   16,  58 

Wittmess,  see  Eichstadt   

Wold  Cottage 11,  49,  01 

Xiquipilco,  see  Toluca 

Yanhuitlan,  see  Oaxaca 

Yarra  Yarra  River,  see  Cranbourne. 

Yatoor,  see  Nellore 

Youndegin 22,  42 

Zacatecas 36,  61 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Acoustic  phenomena 9,  11,   14 

Aerolites 

Definition 18 

Description  of   23 

Classes  of 34 

Analyses  of 25 

Aerosiderites. 

Definition  of  18 

Analyses  of 19 

Description  of 18-22 

Aerosiderolites. 

Definition  of .  .  •    18 

Description  of 22-23 

Analyses  of 23 

Amphoterite 24 

Analyses 19,  23,  25 

Asiderites 18,   23 

Awaruite 19 

Basalt 24 

Biela's  comet 29,  30 

Bustite   24 

Carbonaceous  meteorites 17,  27 

Chassignite 24 

Chladnite 24 

Chondri 26 

Chondritic  structure 26 

Classes  of  meteorites 18 

Cleavage 22 

Compounds  in  meteorites 17 

Crust     13 

Crystalline  structure 19-21 

Diogenite 24 

Distribution  of  meteorites 12 

Dunite 24 

Effects  of  heat 13,   14 

Elements  in  meteorites  ....  ....   16 

Etching  figures,  see  Widmanstatten 

figures 

Eukrite 24 


Evidences  of  life . 


28 


Faults 27 

Forms  of  meteorites 15 

Gabbro     24 

Gases  in  meteorites 18 

Holosiderites   18 

Howardite 24 

Kamacite 17,  ZQ> 

Laphamite  markings   20 

Lawrencite 17 

Lherzolite 24 

Luminous  phenomena 9,   11,   14 

Meteoric  "fall" 12' 

Meteoric  '  'find "   12 

Minerals  of  meteorites 17 

Origin  of  meteorites 28 

Ovifak  iron 7 

Pallasites 22 

Pits 13 

Plessite 17,  20 

Saxonite 24 

Schreibersite 17,   19,  22 

Shooting  stars 30 

Size  cf  meteorites .  16 

Slickensides 27 

Specific  gravity 19,  23,  26,  30 

Sporadosiderites 18,  23 

Syssiderites 18 

Taenite 17,  20 

Terrestrial  iron 7,   19,  20,  30 

Thumb  marks   13 

Times  of  fall .12 

Troilite 17,  22 

Veins 27 

Velocity  of  meteorites 15 

Widmanstatten  figures 20,  21 


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PLATE  I. 

Fig.  1.  Aerosiderite,  Toluca,  Mexico.  Etched  slab  showing  coarse  Widmanstatten 
figures  and  elongated  nodules  of  troilite.     One-half  natural  size. 

Fig.  2.  Aerosiderite  Hamilton  Co.,  Texas.  Etched  slab  showing  delicate  Widman- 
statten figures  and  radiating  inclusions  of  troilite.    One-fourth  natural  size. 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN  MUSEUM 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  I. 


Fig.  i.     Toluca,  Mexico. 


Fig.  2.     Hamilton  Co.,  Texas. 


L1BHAHV 

UNIVERSHY  Oi-  ILUI 
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PLATE  II. 

Fig.  1.  Portion  of  section  shown  in  Plate  I,  Figure  2,  magnified  14  diameters. 
The  broad  bands  are  the  kamacite  of  Reichenbach  and  are  bordered  by 
narrow  ones  of  taenite.  The  unindividualized  ground-mass  enclosed 
within  the  rhombs,  is  the  so-called  plessite,  but  this  can  be  seen  to  pass 
imperceptibly  into  the  slender  parallel  bands  called,  by  J.  Lawrence 
Smith,  Laphamite  markings. 

Fig.  2.  Another  portion  of  the  same  section  magnified  14  diameters.  The  etching 
figures  are  similar  to  those  shown  in  Fig.  1,  and  there  is  also  shown  an 
inclusion  of  troilite,  bordered  by  a  layer  of  kamacite. 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN   MUSEUM. 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  II. 


Fig    i. 


Fig.  2.     Hamilton  Co.,  Texas 


LIBRARV 
imiVERSHY  Of-  ILLINOIS 


FIELD  C0LUM8IAN  MUSEUM 


rana  Co.,  S.  C. 


ion  River,  S.  Africa. 


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Diablo,  Arizona. 


PLATE  III. 

Fig.  1.  Aerosiderite,  Laurens  Co. ,  South  Carolina.  Etched  fragment  showing  charac- 
teristic Widmanstatten  figures.     Two-thirds  natural  size. 

Fig.  2.  Lion  River,  South  Africa.  Etched  fragment  showing  characteristic  Wid- 
manstatten figures.     Two-thirds  natural  size. 

Fig.  3.  Aerosiderites,  Canon  Diablo,  Arizona.  The  two  masses  weigh  265  and  1013 
pounds  respectively.  The  chain  by  which  the  smaller  is  supported,  passes 
through  a  natural  perforation. 


HELD  COLUMBIAN  MUSEUM 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  III. 


Fig.  i.     Laurens  Co.,  S.  C. 


Fig.  «.     Lion  River,  S.  Africa. 


Fig.  3.    Canon  Diablo,  Arizona. 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OP  ILLINOIS 
.     URBANA 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN  MUSEUM. 


•VI  HTAJT 


I    3<H 


PLATE  IV. 

Aerosiderolites,  Kiowa  Co.,  Kansas. 
Fig.   1.      Section  showing  the  sponge-like  structure  of  these  masses,  the  cavities  of 

the  metallic  matrix  being  filled  with  chrysolite.     One-fourth  natural  size. 
Fig.  2.     Single  individual  weighing  465  pounds.     A  Pallasite. 
Fig.  3.     Four  individuals.     The  largest  one,  known,  on  account  of  its  shape,  as  the 

"moon  meteorite, "  weighs  344^  pounds.     It  is  wholly  metallic  as  is  also 

the  central  mass  below  it.     The  other  individuals  contain  a  little  chrysolite. 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN   MUSEUM. 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  IV, 


Fig.  i. 


Fig.  a. 


Kiowa  Co.,   Kansas. 


Fig.  3.     Kiowa  Co.,  Kansas. 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  01-  ILLINOIS 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN  MUSEUM 


stain 

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PLATE  V. 

Fig.  1.  Aerolite,  Long  Island,  Phillips  Co.,  Kansas.  This  was  probably  a  single 
mass,  broken  in  pieces  by  striking  on  a  ledge  as  it  fell.  Four  of  the  largest 
of  the  fragments  have  been  joined  together  along  the  planes  of  original 
fracture,  giving  the  mass  shown  in  the -figure.  The  other  fragments  occu- 
pied the  place  of  the  pedestal.  The  white  coating  shown  over  a  portion 
of  the  surface  was  undoubtedly  formed  subsequent  to  the  fall  of  the  stone. 
The  true   crust  has  the  appearance  of  an  earthenware  glaze. 

Fig.  2.  Seven  individual  aerolites,  Leland,  Winnebago  Co.,  Iowa,  showing  crust, 
pitted  surface  and  interior. 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN   MUSEUM. 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  V. 


Fig.  i.     Long  Island,  Phillips  Co.,  Kansas. 


Fig.  2.     I. eland,  Winnebago  Co.,  Iowa. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSIiY  01-  ILLINOIS 
URu, 


iTAJS 


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PLATEiyi. 

Fig.  1.  Micro-structure  of  aerolite  from  Simbirsk,  Partsch,  Russia.  Magnified  13 
diameters.  The  mass  is  made  up  of  numerous  chondri  between  1  and  2 
millimeters  in  diameter,  which  have  a  more  or  less  circular  outline  and 
vary  in  structure  from  fibrous  to  coarse,  granular.  One  chondrus  made  up 
of  fibrous  enstatite  exhibits  the  peculiar,  eccentric  fan-shape  which  chara- 
cterizes these  chondri.     The  coarse  grains  are  principally  chrysolite. 

Fig.  2.  Single  chondrus  from  the  Clarac,  Haute  Garonne,  France,  aerolite,  magnified 
46  diameters.  The  mass  of  the  chondrus  is  made  up  of  lath-shaped  in- 
dividuals of  pyroxene.  It  is  enclosed  in  a  shell  of  metallic  grains  which 
can  be  seen  to  give  its  border  a  distinct  outline  and  separate  it  from  the 
ground  mass. 


FIELD  COLUMBIAN   MUSEUM. 


GEOLOGY,  PL.  VI. 


Fig.  i.     Simbirsk,  Partsch,  Russia. 


Fig.  2.     Clarac,  Haute  Garonne,  France. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

URBANA 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  MUSEUM. 


The  series  of  publications  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum,  of 
which  this  is  a  number,  began  with  "An  Historical  and  Descriptive 
Account  of  the*  Field  Columbian  Museum."  Contributions  to  the 
series  are  not  restricted  in  authorship  or  subject  if  coming  within  the 
scope  of  scientific  or  technical  discussion  and  supporting  the  high 
standard  it  is  hoped  the  publications  will  maintain. 

The  publications  include  transactions,  memoirs,  monographs, 
bulletins,  handbooks,  and  catalogues  of  collections,  and  are  numbered 
consecutively  but  are  also  sectional  in  character.  Each  series  has  a 
separate  pagination  and  volumes:  the  literature  of  eachscience  or 
general  subject  is  in  this  way  rendered  consecutive  and  complete 
for  binding. 

The  following  publications  have  been  issued : 

Pub.  i.  Hist.  Series  Vol,  i,  No.  i.  An  Historical  and  Descriptive 
Account  of  the  Field  Columbian  Museum. 

Pub.  2.  Hist.  Series  Vol.  i,  No.  2,  The  Authentic  Letters  of  Co- 
lumbus.— William  Eleroy  Curtis,  Honorary  Curator  of 
Columbus  Memorial. 

Pub.  3.  Geol.  Series  Vol.  1  No.  1.  Handbook  and  Catalogue  of 
the  Collection  of  Meteorites. — O.  C.  Farrington,  Curator 
of  Geology. 

In  preparation: 

Anthropol.  Series  Vol.  1,  No.  1.  Pt.  1  Studies  among  the  Ancient 
Cities  of  Mexico. — W.  H.  Holmes,  Curator  of  Anthro- 
pology. 

Anthropol.  Series  Vol.  1,  No.  2.  Pt.  2.  Studies  among  the  Ancient 
Cities  of  Mexico. — W.  H.  Holmes,  Curator  of  Anthro- 
pology. 

Bot.  Series  Vol.  1,  No.  1.  Flora  of  Yucatan. — C.  F.  Millspaugh, 
Curator  of  Botany. 

Bot.  Series  Vol.  1,  No.  2.  Flora  of  West  Virginia.— C.  F.  Mills- 
paugh and  L.  W.  Nuttall. 

Zool.  Series  Vol.  1,  No.  1.  Vertebral  Column  of  the  Amia. — O.  P. 
Hay,  Assistant  Curator  of  Ichthyology. 


